Finally a Use for Sculptra?

Sculptra has been one of the products that we have used and discarded. The advantage of Sculptra is that it is the longest lasting of the fillers, frequently lasting 2 years or more. The disadvantages of Sculptra have been many: it requires a series of injections and was slow to produce visible improvement; it can be expensive and it has a propensity to develop nodules, sometimes starting more than a year after the material was injected. Because there were other fillers that were less expensive, relatively long acting and produced immediate improvement without the same propensity for nodule formation, there seemed little reason to use Sculptra. Now there is a report from Brazil that describes new uses for Sculptra that allow it to treat problems that previously had no good solution.

In the August Journal of Dermtologic Surgery there is a report of the use of a dilute solution of Sculptra to produce minimally invasive rejuvenation of the neck and chest. The problem of lines and wrinkles on the neck have only been treatable by surgery, or other tissue tightening techniques such as Thermage. The fine wrinkles on the chest have been treated, not very successfully in our hands, with botulinum toxin and various laser therapies. We have not used Thermage on these areas, but have seen improvement in similar fine wrinkling on the arms. The injection of Sculptra into these areas produces new growth of collagen and an improvement that is visible in 10 to 30 days, versus the 30-60 days necessary to show improvement in the face. A smaller amount of Sculptra is needed for the 1-2 treatments (chest) or 1-4 treatments (neck), so the costs are more reasonable. Although there are other fillers that stimulate collagen growth, none currently available seems appropriate for use in these areas.
In the study a total of 36 paients were injected and of those 33 said they liked the results and would do the procedure again. Two did not like the results and one did not like the accompanying bruising. Only one patient, who did not follow instructions to massage the area, had nodules, the only complication. The results were still present 18 months after treatment. The photographs accompanying the article show impressive improvement.

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

Comments

[Cosmetic surgery Los Angeles]

So Sculptra is making a come back?

[Deborah]

Sculptra is a dangerous unpredictable product that causes complications with no solutions. 2 years ago a board certified plastic surgeon FACS injecting this product into my face one time. I developed cellulitis and a bone infection. I have a chronic granulomatous inflammatory reaction that continues. Sanofi Aventis claims not to know how long this will go on. If you look at the FDA MAUDE database you will see that many adverse events are now being reported. Sanofi Aventis did not report adverse events prior to an FDA inspection in September of 2009 that found the condition objectionable. The time bomb you described has exploded in my face. This is a dangerous unpredictable product. It has destroyed all quality of my life. I hide from the world as I have been irrepairably damaged. It continues to this day.