Fat Grafting: Made from best stuff on Earth
Fat grafting, it uses the best stuff on Earth. No, this isn’t a Snapple advertisement. But fat cells contains stem cells. And stem cells, are the buzz, as you will see in this article.
The future of breast reconstruction (and perhaps breast augmentation) may lie in your own fat. While taking fat from an unwanted area and putting it in a wanted area (like hips to breasts) with liposuction may not be technically difficult, its predictability is. That is, the survival of your fat cells and how well they incorporate into your own tissues cannot be accurately determined preoperatively. Often, breast augmentation with your own fat with fat grafting (autologous fat) takes several procedures spaced months apart. This is not only inconvenient, but it is also expensive. In addition, some very thin women who desire a breast enlargement are going to have a problem donating their own fat. In the not so distant future (maybe), one will be able to donate their own fat, and allow the stem cells in their fat generate tissue in a lab for breast enhancement. Until then, breast augmentation with saline breast implants or silicone breast implants remains the most practical (and cheapest) model for breast enlargement. The concerns for potentiality of breast cancer from autologous fat grafting have been in the back of plastic surgeons minds for some time. This study affirms its safety. Of course, the irony is that a new, very remote chance of a rare breast cancer may be slightly increased with prosthetic augmentation (saline or silicone implants). Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), although wildly rare, has recently been linked to capsular contractures in breast implants. Of the estimated 10 million implants worldwide, only 34 cases of ALCL have been identified since 1989.
More at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/214813.php
Dr. Tim Neavin is a board-certified plastic surgeon located in Beverly Hills, California.
