Plastic Surgery New York, Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation » Viafill

Fat Transfer

Rob — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:50:44 +0000

Fat Transfer is a great technique that has taken a lot of criticism in the past.
What is it? What are its’ limitations?
Fat is taken from one area of the body and injected as a filler into another area of the body.
Why?
Fat can be used to fill a contour defect from liposuction. It can be used to correct a contour defect from other surgeries, like breast biopsies or mastectomies.
Fat transfer can be used to improve cosmetic deficits.
It can be placed in wrinkles, deep facial folds or the hollows under your eyes. It can also be placed in hollow temples, along the jawline, around the eyes or in the lips.
It can also be used to reduce the aged look of older hands. Remember that the hands can give away the age of even the youngest looking older person.
The benefits of fat over other synthetic fillers is that it is natural, safe (no allergic reaction to your own tissue) and most people have enough to fill large deficits (unlike synthetic fillers which come in expensive 1 milliliter vials).
The complaints in the past have been about lack of durability and too much injection at one time. These complaints go hand in hand. The doctor knows that only the live tissue will survive; he/she also knows that only a small number of the cells that are injected are alive, therefore they inject a large amount of fat to compensate. This large amount is lumpy and distorted and then goes away in an irregular fashion.
The Viafill system – Just out! is designed to provide a larger number of live cells thus eliminating the necessity of overfilling.
Fat Transfer has moved back into the conversation as the most important cosmetic and reconstructive filler. Stay tuned for more information.

FDA Questions Filler Companies about Risks

Rob — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:00:23 +0000

Synthetic facial fillers are in for a little problem with the FDA. Seems several hundred patients have had untoward problems without adequate reporting and further, doctors have not adequately reviewed the risks and benefits with their patients.

My general feeling is that the problems focus around one particular filler called Sculptra and that the FDA is likely throwing out the baby with the bath water. In the meantime, I will be careful to describe all risks and benefits with each and every patient.

I would also like to say that Fat injections will not be affected by any FDA reviews of synthetic fillers. More on the Viafill System from Lipose corporation in later posts. But this system increases the viable fat cells that are injected in fat transfers by 500%. Fat injections are great for several reasons;

Everyone has some.
It is all natural.
You can inject lots of it.
People complain that it does not last, but even in the worst case scenario, fat last for more than a year.
Fat is as soft as the fat it is injected into, therefore you eliminate those hard lumps and unnatural ridges when you smile.

Autologous fat is the way to go. And now with the new concerns about synthetic fillers around the eyes, fat will be the only way to perform a volumetric correction around the eye.

FDA Questions Filler Companies about Risks

Rob — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:00:32 +0000

Synthetic Facial fillers are in for a little problem with the FDA. Seems several hundred patients have had untoward problems without adequate reporting and further, doctors have not adequately reviewed the risks and benefits with their patients.