Accumulation of silicone elastomer in regular dialysis.

A retrospective autopsy study of 78 patients treated by some form of dialysis for chronic renal failure in Newcastle 1964-1981 showed that: 1) Particles resembling silicone elastomer were present in 48 per cent of 61 patients haemodialysed with the use of silicone rubber pump inserts but in none of the 11 treated by haemodialysis with other pump inserts or of the six treated by peritoneal dialysis alone; 2) The prevalence of these particles and their density increased with time on haemodialysis; 3) There was little evidence of a tissue reaction to the particles and no association between their presence and histological evidence of liver disease; 4) There was a higher incidence of clinical and biochemical evidence of liver disease in patients with silicone deposits than in those without. Although there are other possible explanations for this higher incidence of hepatic dysfunction it would be safer to assume that silicone particle spallation is not innocuous.