Breast Fat Grafting Comes Of Age

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The search for the ideal breast implant material has spanned everything from soy oil to paraffin. 

The current generation of silicone implants are one of the most studied medical implants in the world.  Despite the favorable safety profile, a sizeable percentage of women interested in augmentation surgery have sat on the sidelines.  There most cited concern is having something they consider unnatural in their body. 

At the recent American of Society Plastic Surgeons meeting in New Orleans,  fat grafting to the breast seems to have come of age.  Plastic surgeons have been using fat grafting to the breast for patients undergoing reconstructive breast surgery for several years now.  The original hesitations of using fat grafts for breast augmentation purposes have to do with the number of procedures necessary and the ability to read subsequent mammograms.  Both these issues are slowly being resolved.

Who is a candidate?

Most patients would prefer to have this procedure in one surgical procedure with one recovery.  Ideally, a perfect patient would want to increase their breast size from 1 to 1 1/2 cup sizes larger.  They would need to have a sufficient fat volume to be liposuctioned to provide enough material to graft.  People that are very athletic often would not have enough donor fat to be used. 

Who is not an ideal candidate?

Traditional augmentation is still best utilized for the very slim patient who wants to increase her breast size 1 1/2 to 2 cup sizes or more.  A breast implant would allow more shaping options to the breast particularly giving a patient more fullness in the superior portions of the breast.

There are still are remaining issues of the effectiveness of mammograms in patients that have had fat grafting to the breast.  Newer imaging technologies, or CT/MRI, may help resolve these issues.

Thoughts On The "Ideal" Breast Implant

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Thoughts On The "Ideal" Breast Implant

Guest Post: Aaron Stone MD

Thoughs on the Ideal silicone / saline breast implant.

The 2 main types of breast implants available for decades have been the saline filled an silicone gel filled breast implants. Each has its pros and cons.

Silicone gel implants have a more natural feel and look. Unlike silicone gel, implants containing only saline do not blend well with surrounding tissues at the edges of the implants. This is due to the chemical properties of salt water which is chemically charged as positive and negative charges that attract each other as opposed to silicone gel which does not carry a charge. Thus saline is more cohesive than silicone. What this means in clinical terms is that saline implant margins are more visible than silicone gel implant margins, especially when the soft tissue (breast gland and fat) between the outside world and the implant is thinner. Thus, in those patients with smaller breasts (less glandular tissue and/or fat) it is preferable to place saline implants under the chest muscle.

Saline implants may look very good when lying flat on a table. However, when upright the upper portion of the implant collapses (wrinkles or ripples) as the cohesive saline falls

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Georgios Hristopoulos MD: Plastic & Aesthetic Surgery In Germany

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Georgios Hristopoulos M.D., Specialist in Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery in Germany

Cosmetic medical technologies offered in Germany are attracting medical tourists. 

Name: Dr. Georgios Hristopoulos
Clinic: Pantheon Aesthetic Center
Location: Cologne, Germany
Website: pantheon-aesthetic-center.de, beethoven-klinik-koeln.de

That's interesting: Dr. Georgios Hristopoulos is employed as Head of the Department of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery of the Beethoven Klinik in Cologne, Germany and at the same time runs his private office, named Pantheon Aesthetic Center. His surgical focus is the Breast Surgery and specifically the complete sub muscular Breast Augmentation (inner Bra) as well as the Dermolipectomies on trunk and extremities.

He speaks German, Greek, English and Spanish. 

How does your surgical practice function? How is it organized? 

I am the Chief of the Department of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery of a small private clinic in Cologne / Germany called Beethoven-Klinik. The clinic is one of the oldest and biggest private Clinics of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery with government concession in the North Rhine Region and maybe in whole Germany. We have an interdisciplinary occupation with Orthopaedists, Trauma-Surgeons and a Dermatologist.

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Silicone Breast Implants Video: Absolutely Safe?

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Silicone Breast Implants: I received promotional materials for a movie 'Absolutely Safe', a documentary film about problems with silicone breast implants.

The information about this is lengthy but I've include three promotional videos that deal with testimony about silicon breast implants before the FDA in 2003, ruptured implants, and a plastic surgeon discussing failure rates and removal of implants.

Plastic Surgeon on Silicone Breast Implants

Every year, more and more women and teenagers in the U.S. are choosing to receive breast implants.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that last year nearly 400,000 women in the U.S. received breast implants. Yet amidst this booming industry lies a complex story of questionable regulation and research, health risks, and women determined to do anything to have the "perfect" breasts. Do women considering implants know about the risks? Are manufacturers and the medical community providing women with all of the facts necessary in order to provide "informed consent?" Today, this procedure has become so popular that high school teenagers receive implants as graduation presents, however few consumers, physicians or regulators are asking whether these medical devices are as safe as the FDA purports them to be.

On November 17th, the New York Times published an article reporting on a letter to congress from a group of FDA scientists accusing top FDA officials of engaging in "serious misconduct" by tampering with the approval process of medical devices. Breast implants are classified as medical devices.

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