Nineteen years' experience with polyurethane foam-covered mammary prosthesis: a preliminary report.

Long-term reviews of patients undergoing augmentation mammaplasty seem to be rare. Recently, a long-term study of patients who had undergone augmentation with polyurethane foam-covered prostheses was undertaken. However, at the time that study was published, the longest follow-up was just over 4 years. We have been using the polyurethane-coated prosthesis almost exclusively for nearly 20 years. The procedure is performed by one surgeon using a consistent technique, and all implantations were retroglandular. In reviewing this series, a follow-up rate of nearly 60% was achieved in patients augmented for periods of 1 to 19 years. The length of this study, together with a high follow-up compliance rate, makes this an unusual contribution to the literature on augmentation mammaplasty.