The Centers for Disease Control just released a Morbidity and Mortality Report detailing three cases of renal failure linked to soft-tissue filler injections. The cases all occurred in December 2007 in the same Greensboro, North Carolina facility. All three cases of soft-tissue filler injections were performed by persons without medical training or medical supervision.

Soft Tissue Filler Injections are for the purpose of cosmetically-enhancing areas of the face and body. The substances injected in the three cases has not positively been identified. While the facility indicated that the injection ingredient was liquid silicone, liquid silicone has not been associated in the past with acute renal failure.

One 42-year-old female patient received two sets of injections in her buttocks within a two-week period; a couple of days after the second injection the patient reported to an emergency department with fatigue, vomiting, and headache and was found to have acute renal failure. A second 26-year-old female patient received at least two sets of injections in the buttocks. Shortly after the last set she went to an emergency department with nausea, headache, and fatigue and was also found to be in acute renal failure. The third patient, another 26-year-old, received two sets of injections in the buttocks, and a few days after the second set reported to an emergency department with fatigue and vomiting. She was found to have acute interstitial nephritis. All three patients were known to be previously healthy.

The Guilford County Health Department investigated the facility and found several violations of infection-control practices. In addition, the Department discovered the patients were not given information on the risks of soft-tissue filler injections. While the practitioner in the facility claimed the substance injected was silicone oil, no evidence to support the claim was given to the Department.

Following local press reports, more complaints were lodged with the Department concerning the facility. Five persons called the Department to complain of injection-site reactions including inflammation, abscesses and pulmonary embolism. The facility practitioner was later arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license.

Since the cluster of soft-tissue filler injections was posted on the CDC's Epidemic Information Exchange in December of 2007, no other cases have yet been reported. The CDC report emphasizes the risk to consumers receiving cosmetic injections from facilities without medically trained or supervised personnel.

More information available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5717a1.htm