Breast Enlargement With Fat?

In the August 19 Wall Street Journal there is an article about using a person's own fat for breast enhancement. This is not a new concept, and it has been tried previously with disappointing results. The problem is that while it is relatively easy to remove fat by liposuction and to inject it into a large area, such as the breast, the fat cells need to develop a vascular supply, or the cells will die and the transplant will vanish.

Fat injections have been used with some success in smaller areas, such as the face. While they clearly work some of the time, consistency and reproducibility have been problems. We have seen one patient who had too much fat placed in her upper cheeks, and she ended up looking like she had a small sausage under each eye. Apparently the only solution for this problem is to surgically remove the extra fat.
In the breast, the positioning of small amounts of fat is not so critical, and fat transplantation could, in theory, provide safe and natural appearing enhancement.
This procedure has become popular in Japan and Europe and appears likely to show up in the US. What has stimulated this experimentation, for lack of a better word, has been the discovery that fat contains stem cells. Some of the fat that was removed is centrifuged to drive down the stem cells, which are harvested and added to the remaining fat that is then injected into the breasts. Whether this stem cell enhanced fat lasts longer is anybody's guess. Studies are being performed, but as of yet there is no data, and no information about complications. The claims are for mild enhancement, one cup size, and the costs have been in the range of $15-30,000. This may soon be coming to a facility near you. When a totally new procedure like this appears, it's best not to be one of the early adopters.

Gerald N. Bock MD
California Skin & Laser Center
Stockton & Lodi, CA

Comments

[Cosmetic Surgery Abroad]

As someone who formerly had breast implants, I think the fat transfer is a great idea. Implants are not all they are cracked up to be, requiring replacement surgeries at great cost and pain, as well as scarring and encapsulation, which isn’t as uncommon as they’d have you believe.

[dermatologist pomona]

For me having in this kind of procedure is very serious so its to find find a specialists in these profession to make it sure that its safe.

sphin