Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study of Implant Age, Pocket Plane, Incision, Surface Texture, and Volume as Predictors of Breast Implant Shell Fissure

September 2, 2026 updated by: Research Inc
This prospective implant-surveillance cohort will evaluate predictors of breast implant shell fissure. Women with aesthetic implants without baseline fissure or rupture will undergo annual clinical and imaging assessment for up to five years. Implant age, pocket plane, incision route, surface texture, and volume will be evaluated as predictors. The primary outcome is time to first confirmed focal shell fissure; progression to complete rupture, symptoms, inter-reader agreement, and revision will also be assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A locked radiologic and operative definition will distinguish focal shell fissure from complete rupture, deformation, porosity, and leakage. Eligible women will enter only after baseline imaging shows no shell defect. Annual ultrasound and confirmatory MRI will prospectively identify incident events, which will undergo central blinded review and surgical confirmation when available. Delayed-entry time-to-event models will evaluate implant and surgical predictors and will account for bilateral implants and competing removal. A multi-state analysis will explore progression from intact implant to fissure and rupture if the event count is adequate.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

3000

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Juan Velez, MD, Plastic surgeon
  • Phone Number: +57 3054511588
  • Email: info@velezlara.com

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult women with aesthetic breast implants that are intact and without a documented shell fissure at baseline.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female sex and age 18 years or older.
  • Aesthetic breast implant with known implantation date or year and known pocket plane, incision route, surface texture, and volume.
  • No fissure or rupture identified by the baseline imaging algorithm.
  • Ability to undergo annual ultrasound and confirmatory MRI when indicated.
  • Written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Confirmed fissure or rupture at cohort entry.
  • Reconstructive breast implantation or tissue expander.
  • Immediate planned implant removal or exchange.
  • Missing core implant characteristics.
  • MRI contraindication when MRI is required to adjudicate a suspected event.
  • Recalled/PIP implant if excluded by the final analytic plan.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Implant Shell Integrity Surveillance Cohort
Women with no baseline shell defect are followed prospectively. Implant and surgical characteristics are modeled as exposures.
Recorded characteristics include implant age, material, surface texture, shape, volume, pocket plane, incision route, manufacturer/lot when available, primary or revision placement, and laterality. Linked arm/group(s): Implant Shell Integrity Surveillance Cohort.
Annual high-resolution ultrasound and confirmatory MRI will apply a locked definition of focal shell fissure, complete rupture, deformation, porosity, and silicone leakage. Event images will undergo blinded central review. Linked arm/group(s): Implant Shell Integrity Surveillance Cohort.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to First Confirmed Breast Implant Shell Fissure
Time Frame: From cohort entry through years of prospective follow-up. 10 years
Implant-level time from cohort entry to the first focal partial-thickness or noncomplete shell discontinuity meeting the locked MRI, ultrasound, or operative criteria and not meeting the definition of complete rupture.
From cohort entry through years of prospective follow-up. 10 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fissure-Free Survival by Implant Age
Time Frame: 10 years
Probability of remaining free of confirmed fissure at prespecified implant ages using delayed-entry survival methods.
10 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: juan velez, MD, plastic surgery

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 12, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 022 (ITCC)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

not considered in the patient informed consent

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.