Injections of the patient’s own fat, enriched with stem cells, can significantly prolong the effects of plastic surgery preserving the desired shape for a longer time. This is the conclusion reached by the researchers from Denmark.
Transplantation of fat from an “unwanted” area of the body to a “desirable” one is gaining popularity. This is done in order to restore the volume lost over the years. Unfortunately, the effect of such surgeries is not stored permanently, and the volume decreases again with time. But the researchers from the hospital of the University of Copenhagen found out how you can prolong the effect much longer.
For example, observations have shown that transplantation of fat, enriched with stem cells, can save 81% of the initial volume during 121 days. In the control group, where the stem cells were not used, the rate was only 16%. The data were published by the Lancet journal.
This kind of fat transplantation technology is quite widespread in reconstructive surgery, but scientific studies have shown that about 80% of the transplanted fat, unfortunately, does not survive. Nowadays, one can finally understand that stem cells can help maintain the viability of fat. According to professors Peter Rubin and Casey Marr from the University of Pittsburgh, a new therapy could be a revolution in breast reconstruction after cancer and deformities of the body from injury.
During the study, Danish scientists collected fat from the volunteers’ abdomen through liposuction, enriching it with the volunteers’ stem cells, and then injected it in the top of the arm. This technology has significantly reduced the level of body tissue necrosis, reducing it to 4.6 % in the first group versus 16 % in the control group.
No serious side effects of the method have been found yet, but its long-term effects still must be studied. It is not identified, in particular, whether a high concentration of stem cells can induce the growth of breast cancer cells. The experiments on mice proved that the stem cells, produced from fat, contributed to the growth of active cancer cells. Therefore, one cannot introduce the technology in wide practice until a detailed study is conducted.
