Article: Breast fat grafting gets thumbs up!

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San Diego — Officials of Cytori Therapeutics, based here, say British surgeons have successfully used the company’s adipose-derived regenerative cell (ADRC) fat grafting procedure — which the company calls RESTORE — in reconstructive breast surgery, Medical News Today reports. 

The company says clinical outcomes were reported at the Association of Breast Surgery Conference in Manchester, England, earlier this month. The procedure was separately investigated in Cytori's own RESTORE 2 trial, according to Medical News Today. 

The British surgeons’ report results from an independent, prospective study of 23 patients who received ADRC-enhanced fat grafting for the correction of breast-contour defects following cancer treatment or benign conditions including implant complications, using Cytori’s Celution System. Patients were treated between September 2008 and November 2010 with follow-up between three months and two years. The results showed that 19 of the patients, or 82 percent, reported good to excellent results, with a mean satisfaction score of 5.1 (1 being worst, 6 being best). 

The results further showed a high level of investigator satisfaction, with a mean satisfaction score of 4.3. Study findings demonstrated a low complication rate. 

Overall, the company says, the study results suggest the RESTORE procedure is a viable breast reconstruction option.

By: Bill Gillette
Cosmetic Surgery Times E-News

Procedure Freezes Fat Cells To Flush Fat!

Dr. Z wants to share this article from KTSN News Channel 9:

 View full article and video: http://bit.ly/lve81l

EL PASO- Most of us have that annoying area of fat we can't seem to get rid of no matter how much we diet or exercise. While liposuction is an expensive and sometimes painful solution, a new technique has helped dozens of people in the Borderland at a fraction of the price and in an hour's time. It's called "cool sculpting" and the way it works is by freezing your fat cells.

“I'm going to Hawaii in June, so that's why I started kind of early to fit into that bikini for Hawaii,” says Alicia Revelez.

Even though she diets and works out, Revelez said she could not get rid of some bulgy areas like her love handles and stomach. The mother of two didn't want to get liposuction because of the down time and recovery involved, but then she heard of a new procedure.

“This machine is the Zeltiq apparatus. It performs a procedure called cool sculpting,” says Dr. Lyle Weeks.

Dr. Weeks, with Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center in West El Paso says the procedure has become increasingly popular since his office first started doing "cool sculpting" in December.

“The technology is based on the fact that fat freezes at a higher level than water. This enables us to freeze fat, without freezing the skin where there's a lot of water,” says Weeks.

The frozen fat cells are broken up in the body and flushed out. “Fat is then disposed of by the body, just like a normal fat cell that's outlived its usefulness in the body. It's absorbed and carried away,” says Weeks.

The procedure takes about an hour. First, patients are weighed, marked and photographed. Then, a gel to protect the skin is placed on the area to be treated. The technician then places the Zeltiq applicator, which is about the size of a shoe over the area to be treated.

“It's a little suction. Like you know, the vacuum cleaner, like when it gets you,” says Revelez after the Zeltiq applicator was placed around her abdomen.

So how cold is it? “Cool, not cold cold, just cool,” says Revelez.

After an hour, the patient gets a vigorous massage to help the fat cells break up. Dr. Weeks asks patients to lose one pound over the next three months. “That seems to, for some reason, greatly enhance the results of the treatment,” says Weeks.

Dr. Weeks say there are many advantages to cool sculpting over liposuction. “The advantage of this is, it's extremely effective for small areas. It's very safe. It's essentially painless for most people and it's cost-effective.”

It does take one to two months to see the results following treatment. Reveles had her love handles treated in March and says her friends have taken notice.

“They've noticed a difference and they ask me if I’m on a diet and I’m like, "No.” And I told them about this procedure,” says Revelez. “My pants fit different. My clothes fit totally different.”

Reveles says she loved the results so much she came back to do her stomach.

“It's amazing. It's great. You won't see immediate results but you'll start seeing results in about a month and you drop the fat. You won't see the little bulges anymore.”

The procedure is not effective with obese patients. The ideal candidate is someone who is 20 lbs. or less overweight.

By Oralia Ortega - Main Anchor

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 3:00pm

New home-use laser wrinkle remover approved by FDA

Dr. Z wants to share this piece from KENS5.com:

Watch this video: http://bit.ly/jluEzw 

For some, fighting wrinkles with the use of a home laser sounds dangerous, but the FDA recently approved just such a device.

It's primary target: crow's feet.

The PaloVia Skin Renewing Laser is the only FDA cleared take-hoe laser device on the market so far.

According to the instructions, after daily use for a month, you will see natural looking, but dramatic results.

Dr. David McDaniel of the McDaniel Laser and Cosmetic Center calls it a breakthrough product.

"The PaloVia device goes deeper in the skin where wrinkles are formed and helps stimulate fresh new collagen whereas things like Retin-A, retinoids, creams and lotions typically don't do that," says McDaniel.

Until now, plumping up eye wrinkles required a visit to the doctor's office and two to four treatments with a large fractional laser.

The laser doctors use is much stronger than the home-use variety. It has the ability to penetrate much deeper. But the PaloVia laser can make up for its lack of power through repetition.

"Nine out of ten people in the original studies showed visible improvement in 30 days," says McDaniel.

But, to get the targeted crow's feet area, puts the laser close to the eyes. Is it safe?

"The PaloVia device knows if it's in contact with your skin. It also knows if it's sealed for light and when it's sealed," explains McDaniel. "A little blue light comes on and it will allow you to fire it. If you're not sealed, it can't fire."

Besides a little redness after each treatment, Dr. McDaniel says people who use the laser are OK.

Article: Sugary Band-Aid May Help Heal Post-Operative Tissue

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Gel Developed From Same Compound Found in Spray Tanning Lotion

NEW YORK -- A compound found in sunless tanning spray may help to heal wounds following surgery, according to new results published by plastic surgeons from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City and biomedical engineers at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., where the novel compound was developed.

Results published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show that a sticky gel composed of polyethylene glycol and a polycarbonate of dihydroxyacetone (MPEG-pDHA) may help to seal wounds created by surgery.

Procedures to remove cancerous breast tissue, for example, often leave a hollow space that fills with seroma fluid that must typically be drained by a temporary implanted drain. "This is an unpleasant side effect of surgery that is often unavoidable," explains Dr. Jason Spector, co-author of the study and plastic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The gel could potentially be used in all different reconstructive surgeries to prevent seroma formation. "The new substance would act to glue together the hole left behind to prevent seroma buildup," says Dr. Spector.

DHA is a compound that sticks to compounds in biological tissues, called amines. The sticky properties of DHA are what allows sunless tanner to adhere to the skin without being wiped off. However, it is biodegradable and water soluble as well, which means that the compound does not stay tacked onto the body's tissues forever. Currently used "bio-glues" are made from animal products and take a long time to degrade in the body -- both factors that raise the risk of infection.

"DHA is a compound that is naturally produced in the body," explains Dr. David Putnam, the study's senior author and a biomedical engineer from Cornell University's Department of Biomedical Engineering and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. "The glue is broken down, or metabolized, and then safely removed by the body."

Dr. Putnam's lab and his collaborators work to create safe, synthetic compounds from chemicals found in nature. DHA is an intermediary compound produced during the metabolism of glucose, a sugar used by the body for fuel.

To create the new compound, MPEG-pDHA, Dr. Putnam and his lab first bound the single molecule monomer of DHA, which is highly reactive, to a protecting group molecule, making it stable enough to manipulate. This allowed the engineers to bind the monomers together to form a polymer, or chain of molecules, along with MPEG. Doing so allows the polymer gel to be injected through a syringe.

"Making a polymer from DHA has eluded chemical engineers for about 20 years," says Dr. Putnam.

Now in gel form, the compound has the ability to stick tissues together, preventing the pocket from filling with seroma fluid, like an internal Band-Aid, explains Dr. Putnam. The researchers found that the gel prevented or significantly lowered seroma formation or fluid buildup in rats that had breast tissue removed.

"The next step would be to test the gel on larger animals and then in clinical trials in human surgical cases," says Dr. Spector.

Previous results, published by Drs. Putnam and Spector, in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, showed that the gel also prevented bleeding in a rat liver.

"This is another aspect of the compound that would be greatly beneficial if proven to be applicable in humans," says Dr. Spector. "The gel could speed the healing and decrease bleeding within the body."

This research was supported in part from a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a grant from the Morgan Tissue Engineering Fund, an Early Career Award from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, and the New York State Center for Advanced Technology.

Co-authors of the study include Dr. Peter Zawaneh from Cornell University, Dr. Sunil Singh and Dr. Peter Henderson from Weill Cornell, and Dr. Robert Padera from the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

For more information, visit www.nyp.org and www.med.cornell.edu.

Using your Own Body Fat for Cosmetic Procedures

Dr. Z wants to share this article with you that shows the Body Jet System used in his office for lipo, as well as Biolife (where fat is sent to for storage) - featured at the Fat Grafting Conference:

 It is considered a natural way to enhance your face and body. And now this procedure is growing in popularity.

Technology is changing not only cosmetic procedures, but medical treatments that could one day, also be the answer to curing some medical and genetic illnesses.

Tina LeBoeuf, 46, of Houma, had two life changing experiences. The first was her choice. After three children, she had a tummy tuck and breast implants. But after she healed something happened she had no control over.

"It was really supposed to be a renewal of life and an exciting time in my life. But two months after I felt a lump after the swelling went down. And after they did a biopsy, they told me I had breast cancer," remembers LeBoeuf.

The last year was tough on her with 16 rounds of chemo, 25 of radiation to fight her Stage 3 diagnosis.

Surgery completely removed the internal breast tissue. An expander was inserted to keep the breast skin from collapsing and scaring down.

"It was very hard doing work and still being a mom and going through cancer. But I was determined to not let the cancer win," LeBoeuf declared.

Now she is doing something new in medical technology that could be used for more natural, anti-aging procedures, such as a liquid face lift, and even in the future to cure serious illness.

"The mood in the country now is people want to do what's natural for them and nothing can be more natural than doing an improvement to yourself, be it reconstructive or any type of a cosmetic deformity than using your own fat," said Ray Zale, Senior Vice President of Development for BioLife Cell Bank.

What's new is that your fat, removed through liposuction, can now be stored for later cosmetic or medical use. BioLife Cell Bank in Dallas is growing daily with hundreds of patients in the U.S. and Canada storing their fat. That tissue can be sent back to patients for cosmetic procedures all over the body. Some examples are: to build up a sagging face with or without a face lift, sagging earlobes, breasts with or without implants to make them fuller, softer with a more natural cleavage. It can also be used for a buttocks lift. In men, it can be used for the look of biceps, chest and calf muscles. Also in the hands, the lips and even to fix old scars and depressions from liposuction.

Plastic surgeons recently came to New Orleans to learn the latest in fat grafting at a medical conference.

"Patients are coming in. They are asking for it. There's a lot of buzz about it both in the medical literature as well as in the lay press and I think it's something that in the next five years is really going to grow immensely," said Dr. Larry Weider, a plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas who came to New Orleans for the conference.

And that is how Metairie plastic surgeon Dr. Kamran Khoobehi is helping LeBoeuf. In the O.R., he is taking fat from her lower body. Some will be mailed off to BioLife Cell Bank. The rest will be used to rebuild the inside of the breast that had cancer. It will put around her new breast implant so that it's more natural but also to act as a cushion between the breast implant and skin that is very delicate after being damaged by radiation treatments.

"Using the fat grafting gives another option for the patients that don't want to through the breast reconstruction," Said Dr. Khoobehi, The Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at LSU Health Sciences Center.

But there's another benefit. As research advances, her own stored fat could one day be used to heal and even cure medical and genetic conditions.

"Your adult stem cells are the highest concentration in your fat than in any other part of the body by a magnitude of 500 times when you compare it to blood or bone marrow," explained Zale.

For LeBoeuf, her fat with its stem cells put around her new implant, could keep that thin radiated breast skin from tearing down.

"The studies from Italy coming that using the fat grafting to the radiated tissue, you see regeneration of the tissue," noted Dr. Khoobehi.

With her fat in a bank, any future procedures would not require surgery in the O.R., just office injections. And Dr. Khoobehi has developed low pressure techniques to collect the fat by hand and through the water jet machine that keep the fat cells intact and living for a long time when grafted back into the body.

Some doctors think the cost of banking is worth it.

"When you look at the cost of using fillers and other products that are temporary, that have to be reinjected every six months or nine months verses using your own fat and having it available to you, and having it last much longer than some of these fillers that are available, I think it makes sense financially," said Dr. Weider.

Now LeBoeuf is looking towards her 25th anniversary.

"We're going to go to Hawaii and renew our wedding vows," her husband Dwayne said with a smile.

"I am definitely holding him up to that trip to Hawaii for my anniversary," she said from her pre-op bed.

The cost for the first year of processing, preserving and storing the fat is around $1,700. Every year after that is around $200. The cost of processing the stem cells is extra.

By: Meg Farris / Medical Reporter; wwltv.com New Orleans, LA.

IV Skin Whitener Could Be Deadly!

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Manila, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines has issued an advisory that warns of the potentially serious risks of using the popular intravenous skin whitener glutathione (Glutathione IV), GMA News Online reports.

 Citing reports received by the agency, Director Suzette Lazo, M.D., is quoted in the advisory as saying, “The alarming increase in the unapproved use of glutathione administered intravenously as a skin-whitening agent at very high doses is unsafe and may result in serious consequences to the health of users.” 

According to Dr. Lazo’s statement, adverse reactions include the deadly Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis; thyroid function derangement; suspected kidney dysfunction, potentially resulting in kidney failure; and severe abdominal pain in a patient receiving twice-weekly glutathione administered intravenously. 

Glutathione is a liver-generated compound that plays a role in antioxidant defense, metabolism and regulation. It may induce a skin-whitening effect by inactivating the enzyme tyrosinase, which is needed in melanin production and converts the pigment to the lighter pheomelanin. Dr. Lazo noted that this claim has been disputed. 

“When administered orally, (glutathione) is hydrolyzed by the gastric juices and further undergoes degradation by the liver enzyme, and the resultant bioavailability is low,” she said. “Intravenous administration delivers very high doses directly into the systemic circulation and may overload the renal circulation.”

By: Bill Gillette
Cosmetic Surgery Times E-News

Great Article to share- Study: Hair Stem Cells Communicate

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Los Angeles — Researchers here say they have discovered how hair stem cells in mice and rabbits communicate with each other to encourage coordinated regeneration — a finding that could lead to a cure for alopecia, Medical News Today reports.

Working with mathematical biologists from the University of Oxford, England, researchers from the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine analyzed month-to-month changes in the hair-growth patterns on shaved mice and rabbits. The changes indicate that hair follicle stem cells cycle between active and quiescent states.

Medical News Today quotes Keck School pathology professor and lead investigator Cheng-Ming Chuong, M.D., as saying, “The results are totally surprising. There is complex coordination not apparent to the naked eye.” That coordination, Dr. Choung added, is the ability of the large hair stem cell population to communicate with each other to generate robust hair growth.

According to the study, improving the environment for this kind of stem cell communication could lead to a cure for alopecia, which occurs in humans partially because stem cells in human hair follicles have lost the ability to communicate with each other.

The study’s results are so promising that USC’s Stevens Institute for Innovation has applied for a patent on the composition and method to modulate hair growth. The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, appears in the May 3 issue of the journal Science Signaling.

May 19, 2011
By: Bill Gillette
Cosmetic Surgery Times E-News