StemCell Therapy

With Stem Cells being used in the media and by other surgeons like an every day word, we want to clarify our standings on its use

Fat transfer, also known as fat grafting or autologous fat transfer, is the process of using the patients own fat to increase the volume of fat in another area of their body. The fat is harvested or extracted with a liposuction cannula. They are prepared for reintroduction into the body and injected into the new part of the body where the additional bulk is used for medical or cosmetic purposes. The most common donor areas, where fat is taken from, are the stomach, thighs, and waist.

The procedure is minimally invasive making it very appealing. Another advantage of fat transfer is that the body does not reject it because it is the patients own fat. However, there is a rate of absorption, a percentage of the transferred fat, that does not survive. Therefore, it is extremely important to select a surgeon that uses a proven technique with the highest fat survival rate.

Many women have turned to the Miami Breast Center looking for natural and permanent results. Dr. Khouri is a pioneer in the use of autologous fat to reconstruct and augment breasts. He is able to rebuild an entire breast using only the patients fat and the external tissue expander BRAVA. The BRAVA bra is worn a few weeks prior to surgery and stretches the tissue, both externally and internally, creating a matrix into which the transferred fat will be injected. This matrix is essential for fat placement and survival.

Dr. Khouri uses a very fine needle-like cannula, that he developed, to gently perform liposuction. The fat naturally contains stem cells, which are harvested in the process along with the fat and preserved in the transfer. However, nothing artificial is added nor biologically manipulated within the harvested fat.

Studies have shown that breasts rebuilt with this fat transfer process, pre-expanded with BRAVA, result in high fat survival and last forever. They look and feel natural and retain near-normal sensation. Compared to implants that on average need to be replaced every 10 years and can leave a woman with non-sensate breasts and nipples, Dr. Khouri offers a great alternative.

Growing concerns have emerged over the clinical practices and marketing claims made by the plastic surgery community promoting stem cell use in fat transfers. The term stem cells is hyped by the media and used by some surgeons like an everyday word. A small group of unethical practitioners are deliberately misleading and exploiting the public with false claims. Therefore, a task force was convened to address the false advertising claims that are not substantiated by scientific evidence.

The task force was made up of two of the worlds largest organizations of board-certified plastic surgeons, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). They issued a joint position statement during The Aesthetic Meeting 2011, the annual meeting of ASAPS.

Dr. Roger Khouri himself sat on the task force and participated in the joint position statement. Here are a few of the recommendations made by the task force:

Dr. Khouri is a strong proponent of truth in advertising and very clearly states that his technique is a fat grafting procedure and not a stem cell procedure. Our technique of fat harvesting, preparation, and grafting preserves the native stem cells in the fat graft because we use very fine needle-like cannulas to gently liposuction the patients fat. The harvested fat is naturally rich in stem cells. Nothing artificial is added nor biologically manipulated within the harvested fat.

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Fat Transfer, Grafting to Breast using Stem Cells Truth ...

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