Berner, Imke, Gaubitz, Markus, Jackisch, Christian et al. · European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology · 2002 · DOI
This study compared 96 women with breast cancer—some with silicone implants and some without—to see if silicone implants cause chronic fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, or other symptoms. The researchers found that most symptoms were equally common in both groups, and there was no link between silicone implants and chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS patients because some have raised concerns about environmental triggers or implanted materials potentially contributing to post-infectious fatigue syndromes. Understanding whether silicone or other foreign materials correlate with chronic fatigue helps clarify the etiology of ME/CFS and guides clinical investigation of symptom causes.
This study does not prove silicone implants cause or prevent any disease, as it is cross-sectional and cannot establish temporal relationships. The sample is limited to breast cancer patients, so findings may not generalize to the broader population with implants or to ME/CFS patients specifically. Correlation between implant rupture and one symptom does not establish causation.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Berner, Imke, Gaubitz, Markus, Jackisch, Christian, & Pfleiderer, Bettina (2002). Comparative examination of complaints of patients with breast-cancer with and without silicone implants.. European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0301-2115(01)00561-9
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-berner-2002-comparative-examination,
author = {Berner, Imke and Gaubitz, Markus and Jackisch, Christian and Pfleiderer, Bettina},
title = {Comparative examination of complaints of patients with breast-cancer with and without silicone implants.},
journal = {European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1016/s0301-2115(01)00561-9},
note = {PubMed: 12039092},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/berner-2002-comparative-examination},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/berner-2002-comparative-examination
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