Do breast implants not cause an increased rate of abnormal electrocardiograms (ECG)?

Abstract

BackgroundBreast implants interfere may interfere with surface ECG recording. The goal of this study was to evaluate if the presence of breast implants can lead to abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG) using a large database in adults. MethodsUsing ICD 10 codes for breast implants and abnormal ECG, we evaluated any association between abnormal ECG coding in adult women with breast implants compared to women without breast implants utilizing the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database. Using different age cutoffs showed similar results. ResultsA total of 252,200 women in the NIS database had coding for abnormal EKG over age 18. There were no differences in the presence of abnormal EKG in women with or without breast implants (0.28% vs 0.3%, P = 0.64, OR: 1.02, CI: 0.72–1.32, p = 0.89). After multivariate adjustment for age, baseline characteristics, and comorbid conditions, women with or without breast implants had similar rates of abnormal ECG. ConclusionUsing a large database, we could not find any effect of breast implants on ECG recording suggesting that breast implant has no significant interference with ECG.