Silicone lymphadenopathy in a long distance runner: complication of a silastic prosthesis.

A 33-year-old male runner, who had undergone a Swanson silastic prosthetic implant for degenerative joint disease of the first metatarsal head and proximal phalanx of the right great toe, presented with unilateral inguinal lymphadenopathy. Biopsy revealed confluent, non-caseating granulomas containing silastic material. Silicone lymphadenopathy is unusual and most frequently presents as axillary adenopathy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis as a sequelae of prosthetic surgery. This case is clinically distinctive for its site of presentation in a healthy athlete and is histologically remarkable for the marked granulomatous response to the silastic elastomers.