A Russian TV presenter has revealed she needed an emergency operation when her breast implant ‘leaked’.
Lera Kudryavtseva, 48, needed four hours of surgery to remove both of her implants, which were fitted 15 years ago.
The silicone implant in her left breast had been leaking for at least five years and annual scans failed to detect the rupture, it is claimed.
She has now posted a picture of her damaged implant to warn women of the risks of the common procedure.
Miss Kudryavtseva, married to ice hockey star Igor Makarov – 16 years her junior, said: ‘It is not at all a pleasure for your eyes.
Lera Kudryavtseva, 48, is pictured on the cover of Russia’s Maxim magazine
‘But I decided to show you this wonderful picture, not to scare you but to understand the scale of the catastrophe.’
‘I did not have any pain, there was no inflammation. I felt nothing except the shape of one breast had changed.
‘The scan revealed some liquid accumulated there but it did not reveal the implant was torn.
‘The implant is filled with gel, so it took a long time for it to leak and to saturate all tissues – and [surgery for the] removal took four hours.’
Miss Kudryavtseva, who eight years ago posed semi-naked for Russian Maxim, said the implants caused her chronic fatigue syndrome.
Miss Kudryavtseva, 48, needed four hours of surgery to remove both of her implants, which were fitted 15 years ago (pictured before surgery)
The silicone implant in her left breast (pictured) had been leaking for at least five years and annual scans failed to detect the rupture, it is claimed
Miss Kudryavtseva, married to ice hockey star Igor Makarov – 16 years her junior, said: ‘It is not at all a pleasure for your eyes’ (pictured after surgery)
Miss Kudryavtseva, who eight years ago posed semi-naked for Russian Maxim, said the implants caused her chronic fatigue syndrome
Calling her implants an ‘alien thing inside my body’, she has now decided to speak up about her life-changing ordeal
The thrice-married presenter claims women like her who underwent such operations 15 years ago were ‘all like laboratory rabbits’
When she originally had the implants a decade and a half years ago her doctor told her they would survive a Russian tank rolling over them (pictured in hospital after surgery)
‘There was hardly any information available at that time – we were all like laboratory rabbits,’ she said. ‘I had a check up every year’ (pictured with singer Sergey Lazarev)
Calling her implants an ‘alien thing inside my body’, she has now decided to speak up about her life-changing ordeal.
The thrice-married presenter claims women like her who underwent such operations 15 years ago were ‘all like laboratory rabbits’.
When she originally had the implants a decade and a half years ago her doctor told her they would survive a Russian tank rolling over them.
‘There was hardly any information available at that time – we were all like laboratory rabbits,’ she said. ‘I had a check up every year.’
In her last check-up, her doctor sent her for an MRI scan which revealed that her left implant was torn and had been for at least five years.
Miss Kudryavtseva had to undergo an urgent and ‘aggressive’ operation to remove the implants and the silicone from her tissues.
The Russian star, who has vowed not to have new implants, told her fans: ‘I hope you accept me the way I am now. Stay healthy’
‘Maybe tomorrow I will regret being so open, but if my post stops some girls from putting in implants, then it was worth it.’
Miss Kudryavtseva is a star of popular NTV shows Zvezdy Soshlis – Celebrities Get Together – and Sekret Na Million and Secret Worth a Million.
In her last check-up, her doctor sent her for an MRI scan which revealed that her left implant was torn and had been for at least five years
Miss Kudryavtseva had to undergo an urgent and ‘aggressive’ operation to remove the implants and the silicone from her tissues
The Russian star, who has vowed not to have new implants, told her fans: ‘I hope you accept me the way I am now. Stay healthy’
Miss Kudryavtseva is a star of popular NTV shows Zvezdy Soshlis – Celebrities Get Together – and Sekret Na Million and Secret Worth a Million.
The TV diva’s former boyfriend Sergey Lazarev, a singer, actor, and ex-host of World Music Chart show on MTV, also visited her in hospital
Miss Kudryavtseva is pictured with her ice hockey star husband Igor Makarov
Miss Kudryavtseva is pictured with her husband Igor Makarov and their daughter
Her husband visited her in hospital with flowers after the surgery.
The TV diva’s former boyfriend Sergey Lazarev, a singer, actor, and ex-host of World Music Chart show on MTV, also visited her.
After his visit she posted: ‘I am still laughing at your comment that “I never liked your boobs anyway”.’
Russian plastic surgeon Alexander Volodin told gazeta.ru that modern implants are highly unlikely to have such problems.
‘There are cases when women patients experience a tear of the implant but usually these are with old implants put in about 15 years ago.
He said: ‘It cannot be ruled out that in Miss Kudryavtseva’s case some micro-tears occurred during the original surgery.
‘And 15 years later the tear increased in size which led to damaging the implant.’
US medical centre the Mayo Clinic advises: ‘Keep in mind that breast implants aren’t guaranteed to last a lifetime.’
It says when a silicone breast ruptures, it can go unnoticed because the silicone tends to remain trapped in the surrounding tissue.
Figures suggest up to 25,000 women each year have breast implants. The figure is much higher in the US.