Cryopreservation of adipose tissue with and without cryoprotective agent addition for breast lipofilling: A cytological and histological study

In the second reconstructive phase of the breast after mastectomy, lipofilling is often necessary. Currently, lipofilling occurs immediately after autologous adipose tissue harvesting procedure, but most of the patients, usually, require multiple sessions to obtain a satisfactory result. Therefore, the need of repeated surgical harvesting outputs implies high risk of patients' morbidity and discomfort as well as increasing medical time and costs. The aim of our pilot study was to find out a feasible method to cryopreserve adipose tissue, in order to avoid reiterated liposuctions. Lipoaspirates samples have been harvested from 10 women and preserved by three methods: (1) the first one, using 10% Me₂SO and 20% human albumin from human plasma as cryoprotective agents; (2) the second one, adding 5% Me₂SO as cryoprotective agent; 3) the last one, without any cryoprotective agent. Fresh and cryopreserved fat samples, obtained through the aforementioned processes, have been analyzed ex vivo. The efficiency of the cryopreservation methods used was determined by adipocyte viability and the expression of adipocytes surface markers. Lipoaspirates stored at -196 °C for 3 months, after thawing, retained comparable adipocyte viability and histology to fresh tissue and no significant differences were found between the three methods used. Although the current results, differences between the methodologies in terms of viability may not become evident until breast lipofilling using frozen-thawed cryopreserved tissue.

Vulvar Silicone Granuloma

We report a case of vulvar silicone granulomas following injection of liquid silicone into the labia. The patient is a 51-yr-old female who presented with vulvar pain and enlarged, indurated labia majora. In the past, she had undergone bilateral labial cosmetic augmentation with a silicone-based filler injected directly into the labia and into the gluteal regions. This had been performed in a nonmedical setting. At surgery, oblong firm soft tissue masses were removed from both labia. Microscopically, the lesions demonstrated replacement of the subcutaneous adipose tissue by fibrous tissue containing innumerable round empty spaces of different sizes, either within or surrounded by macrophages and occasional foreign-body giant histiocytes. The clear vacuoles corresponded to silicone fluid which had been dissolved during tissue processing. There are only rare case reports of vulvar silicone granuloma in the literature, and these were due to migration of silicone to the vulva from distant sites. Our report details a case of vulvar silicone granuloma secondary to direct injection of liquid silicone material into the labia.

Adverse effects of fillers

Filler injections belong to the most frequently performed noninvasive beautifying procedures. When done correctly they are generally well tolerated. However, a number of factors, such as poor filler quality, and particularly host as well as user dependent filler reactions may lead to unwanted effects. These may be early, late, or delayed events with characteristics for each of them. Temporary fillers almost invariably cause temporary side effects whereas those of permanent fillers may last forever. Some fillers are notorious for their poor safety profile; for example, silicone is banned in the European Union and the United States but nevertheless used by many practitioners and beauticians. Many fillers can be identified in histopathologic sections allowing specific measures to be instituted.

Four-year follow-up of polyalkylimide gel use for the treatment of HIV-associated lipoatrophy

PURPOSE

To evaluate polyalkylamide gel (PAIG) use in treating HIV-associated facial lipoatrophy (FLA) 4 years after its injection in an open-label, randomized controlled trial (RCT).

METHODS

Five patients were treated with PAIG in a pilot study, and 31 patients were subsequently enrolled in the RCT of immediate or delayed (12 weeks later) PAIG injections. Endpoints included proportion of participants with complications; changes in FLA severity score (FLSS); and quality of life (QoL), depression, anxiety, and satisfaction scores. Infections were classified as "confirmed" if purulent material was extracted and/or an organism cultured. Infections were classified as "possible" if only clinical signs were present without purulent discharge or microbiologic confirmation.

RESULTS

Year 4 results were available for 5 pilot and 27 full-scale study participants. Delayed complications included 5 confirmed infections (15.6%), 3 possible infections (9.4%), nodules (25%), and bleeding (3%). No significant changes were observed between years 2 to 4 in patient-graded FLSS, QoL, depression, and anxiety scores. Whereas 94% of participants were satisfied with their overall treatment, only 69% were satisfied with PAIG treatment specifically.

CONCLUSION

Even though PAIG treatment was associated with delayed complications including high rates of infection and nodules, most patients were satisfied with the treatment.