Soft tissue augmentation is the process of implanting tissues and/or materials to treat soft tissue defects in the body and is a procedure increasingly used worldwide for breast augmentation, both for aesthetic and post-mastectomy reasons, cheek or buttocks modifications and/or depressed scars treatment.

 

Over the years, several approaches have evolved and have been clinically tested to correct these defects, among which fat injections and grafts are the most popular in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.

 

One of the main limit of fat graft is its high resorption rate over time, which - ranging from 25 to 80 per cent - is difficult to predict in advance that can give unsatisfactory results for the patients.

 

A recently published paper by Kolle and co-worker investigates the survival rate of fat grafts injected in the posterior part of the upper arm of 13 volunteers comparing administration of fat graft alone and of fat graft in association with stem cells derived from adipose tissue (ADSC) of the same patients. 

 

ADSC are adult stem cells, isolated from fat, that potentially can differentiate into cells of a variety of tissues (fat, bone, connective tissue) owing to their self-renew properties.

 

Fat and ADSC were harvested from the patients themselves by means of a standard sterile liposuction and ADSC were isolated and expanded in laboratory to increase their number.

 

The results of the treatment were analysed after four months and demonstrated the safety of the enrichment of fat graft with ADSC, lower resorption rates, higher amounts of fat and a better quality of the tissue when ADSC are given in association to fat. 

 

This suggested a critical role for this stem cells derived from adipose tissue in graft survival and in the creation of a healthy microenvironment at the site of injection.

 

On the whole, the paper demonstrated feasibility and safety of the procedure and indicated that fat graft enriched with ADSC - which is biocompatible, versatile, natural-looking and readily obtainable with low donor site morbidity- as a new reliable alternative for major soft tissue augmentation applications, such as breast augmentation, without introduction of foreign material and with more satisfying aesthetic results. - TradeArabia News Service