No scalpel, no scars, no silicon: Lasting, natural breast augmentation with the body’s own adipose tissue derived stem cells instead of “football breasts”

Vienna (2008-04-17) — A short time ago the story about an ex-footballstar’s girlfriend undergoing breast enlargement with silicon was all over the media. Stories like that lead to confusion: They make people believe, that the use of silicon is state of the art in breast enlargement.

That is simply not so. Thanks to recent research on stem cells and cutting edge medical technology women today need not rely on plastic pads if they opt for larger breasts. Today small or hanging breasts can be naturally augmented by the use of stem cell-concentrated autologous fat.

At his Clinic DDr. Heinrich Vienna based DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich, expert in aesthetic medicine and anti-aging, is the first to offer this method in Europe. “Breast Augmentation with stem cells for many women means lasting, natural enlargement of the breasts without implants or scars,” says DDr. Heinrich.

Several clinical studies from Japan and the USA have made it clear that stem cell enriched autologous fat is an ideal, lasting and absolutely harmless filling for reconstruction of the breast following surgery as well as cosmetic breast augmentation. The procedure is also known under the term Cell-Assisted Lipotransfer. The harvested stem cells are by no means artificially modified or propagated. Therefore leading experts in stem cell research, like Prof. Donnenberg of University of Pittsburgh, agree that implantation of these cells bears no risk of malignancies.

In the first step body fat will be extracted by special, patented microcannulas. After enrichment of the fat with stem cells from the patient’s body the fat will be – with utmost aesthetical care – injected into the breast. The injection site will heal – just like after taking a blood sample – fast and without scar formation. Breast augmentation with stem cell concentrated autologous fat is normally done under local anaesthesia or in twilight sleep without general anaesthesia. Only minimal aftercare is necessary and the patient may go home right after surgery.

Typically an enlargement of the breast by one or two cup sizes, equalling 50–300 ccm, can be obtained. The implanted volume of stem cell concentrated autologous fat will be almost completely preserved. In comparison, in standard fat transplantation only 60–70 % of the transplanted volume will last. The enlarged breast will look and feel perfectly natural in each and every position. This results from the fact that volume is gained not by silicon but by living, autologous fatty tissue.

Some plastic surgeons argue that fat injection into the breast might complicate the radiologic diagnosis of breast cancer. DDr. Heinrich does not agree: “Any surgery may lead to minimal calcification which can be mistaken for cancer. This is just as true for silicon implants. Good radiologists are able to discern early stages of cancer from harmless calcification resulting from surgery. In doubt this can be clarified by use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).”

The stem cells used for breast augmentation are harvested from the patients own fat and not from embryonic tissue. Therefore the method is ethically uncritical. The cells needed for breast augmentation are available in sufficient amounts in fat from liposuction. There is no need to artificially propagate these cells, as it is necessary with stem cells from skin or bone marrow. Into which type of cells (skin, fat, muscle) the stem cells differentiate is triggered by the surrounding tissue.

DDr. Heinrich uses stem cell enriched fat also for natural body forming in other regions of the body like bud, hips, thighs and calves as well as for correcting of dents and rejuvenation of the skin in the face, the décolleté and the hands. “Adipose tissue derived stem cells have a very special biological potency, allowing for use far beyond aesthetics – for example in the rejuvenation of organs,” says DDr. Heinrich.

Those women who are not looking for “football breasts”, bumping around like balls, may well consider natural and aesthetic breast augmentation with stem cell enriched fat from bud or belly.

More information on www.liposkulptur.at.

Contact:
Clinic DDr. Heinrich®
Contact: Mag. Thorwald Fastner
E-mail: info@ddrheinrich.com
Web: http://ddrheinrich.com/
Phone: +43 1 532 18 01

Now breast augmentation without silicon. Is therapy for diseased organs next?

Vienna (2008-03-13) — Will cosmetic surgery once again turn out as the source of innovation in therapeutic medicine? Body fat from liposuction might in the near future be used for treatment of diseased or debilitated organs. At the founding symposium of the Institute of Stem Cell Biology in Zürich DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich, Vienna based expert in aesthetic and anti aging medicine and Prof. Albert Donnenberg of the University of Pittsburgh agreed on the future of stem cell medicine: “Stem cells from body fat have already shown huge therapeutic potential in aesthetic medicine just as much as in the treatment of organ-diseases.”

DDr. Heinrich already uses stem cell enriched fatty tissue, harvested in liposuction with microcanulas, for lasting filling in aesthetic surgery – for example in breast augmentation. “These cells have a very special biologic potency, suggesting their use far beyond aesthetic medicine,” says DDr. Heinrich. Prof. Donnenberg, one of the internationally leading researchers in stem cells from body fat, agrees for many reasons:

Adipose tissue derived stem cells extracted from body fat are being produced without the use of embryos and are therefore ethically uncritical. Following liposuction the stem cells can be harvested from a reasonable amount of fat. Therefore it is not necessary to propagate cells artificially as it has to be done with stem cells from skin or bone marrow. Therefore these stem cells need not be processed by adding growth factors in cell culture, but only harvested. From that fact Prof. Donnenberg concludes that their therapeutic use should not bear any increased risk of malignancies.

DDr. Heinrich agrees and stresses the role of the micro-environment in the differentiation of stem cells into adult cells. Obviously the surrounding tissue into which the stem cells migrate, directs into which kind of cells (skin, fat, muscle cells) the stem cells finally differentiate.

DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich was one of the international participants in the symposium. Other well known guests were: Prof. Wolfgang Klietmann of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Prof. David Scadden of Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Prof. Albert Donnenberg of the University of Pittsburgh and Prof. Herbert Zech of the Institute of Reproduction Medicine in Bregenz, Austria.

Further Information: ddrheinrich.com

Contact:
Clinic DDr. Heinrich®
E-mail: info@ddrheinrich.com
Web: http://ddrheinrich.com/
Phone: +43 1 532 18 01

Vienna/Tokyo (2007-10-16) — Medics from two different cultures met in Japan: Vienna based cosmetic surgeon DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich paid a visit to Dr. Kotaro Yoshimura of Tokyo. The Viennese expert in cosmetic surgery and his Japanese colleague from Tokyo medical University are today’s leading authorities in a new method of bodyforming, using the patients’ own fat. Both are working on the improvement of current autologous fat technologies by using stem cells.

In the classic method of own-fat transfer (Lipofilling, Lipostructure®) fat removed from belly or buttocks by liposuction is being used to fill up other body parts. Cell assisted Lipotransfer – transfer of own fat assisted by stem cells – improves the own-fat’s capacity to survive. It therefore can now be used to enlarge and form the breast.

However, both methods – the stem cell assisted fat transfer as well as the classic method -require high surgical skills: Fatty tissue should be harvested by use of a special canulla from buttock or thigh. About double the amount later to be used on the breast should be removed. In a special multi-step process stem cells of the connecting tissue will be isolated from half of that material. These valuable cells must not be destroyed in the procedure. The cells will not be processed or changed in any way. Only one or two hours after harvesting, they will be added to the rest of the harvested own fat and step by step injected into the patients breasts. This procedure follows the so called “grain of rice principle” and is done under local anaesthesia. The expected result will be a gain in volume by one or two cup-sizes.

The method of “cell assisted lipotransfer” has been originally developed in the USA and in Japan. Professor Kotaro Yoshimura can rightly be called a pioneer in this field. At Cellport Clinic in Yokohama he has since 2003 successfully treated hundreds of patients by “cell assisted lipotransfer.” DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich is the first physician in Europe to offer this method at his institute.

In his conversation with his guest from Vienna Professor Yoshimura emphasized the advantages of this method over silicon implants. Many of the women who contact Cellport Clinic simply do not want to receive scars and feel insecure about possible long term side effects of silicon. “Dr. Yoshimura even told me, that many women in Japan have their silicon implants removed to undergo cell assisted lipotransfer,” says DDr. Heinrich, “both of us feel the need to offer women a natural and lasting alternative to silicon.”

To DDr. Heinrich scientific exchange of ideas is crucial. He therefore travels a lot to meet colleagues from all over the world. Last summer he was invited by Cytori Therapeutics of San Diego, USA, to learn more about the actual state of a technology called Celution®. This method is currently in clinical evaluation and might in the future facilitate the isolating of stem cells from the suctioned fat. At this time this process requires complex and labour consuming laboratory work under highly sterile conditions.

Contact:
Clinic DDr. Heinrich®
E-mail: info@ddrheinrich.com
Web: http://ddrheinrich.com/
Phone: +43 1 532 18 01

Japanese doctors are currently working on a technique which might allow enlargment of the breasts by injection of the patients own stem cells. Besides the stem cells, own fat is also implanted. The stem cells are ment to differentiate into living fat cells within the breast, thereby increasing volume. If this technique can be proven to work, many women looking for breast enlargement will have no need for silicon implants any more. We will keep you informed!