Painful lymphadenopathy due to silicone breast implant rupture following extensive global air travel

Abstract

A 25-year-old Caucasian flight attendant with an extensive travel history presented with night sweats, fevers, weight loss and axillary and supraclavicular lymphadenopathy. Apart from surgical breast augmentation, she had no past medical or surgical history. She was anaemic, leucopenic and lymphopenic, and a broad infection screen was negative. Cross-sectional imaging revealed ipsilateral silicone breast implant rupture, with leaking of implant contents into the surrounding tissue. Histological examination of an axillary lymph node core biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of silicone lymphadenopathy. This case illustrates the broad differential for acute painful lymphadenopathy in the context of global travel, and the use of targeted infection testing, early cross-sectional imaging and biopsy to arrive at an unexpected diagnosis.