Some time ago Macrolane was presented in the media as a new method of breast augmentation without using silicone. Since breast augmentations without silicon are one of my specialties, I wish to make a few additional comments:

Since silicone implants have a number of serious drawbacks, alternatives are always welcome. In the case of using Macrolane for the enlargement, hyaluronic acid is injected into the breast. Hyaluronic acid has been used for years in cosmetic medicine for injection into lips, but has – as is also often cited – the disadvantage that it is completely metabolized after only one to one and a half years. Therefore, regular re-applications are required if the result is to be preserved.

In the case of breast enlargement, the hyaluronic acid is injected in to the breast tissue through small incisions underneath the breast in ‘nut-sized’ depots. This means that by every re-application, additional incisions must be made, which of course leave some visible scars, and the ‘nut-sized’ depots can be felt in the breasts as hard lumps.

Concerning the cost of the procedure: the manufacturer of Macrolane, Qmed, charges doctors EUR 350 for 10 ml of the Macrolane material. Therefore it is easy to calculate that the price of a relatively standard 200 ml per side enlargement will be some EUR 14,000 plus surgeon’s fees.

Instead of silicone and hyaluronic acid, it is now possible to perform breast augmentations using stem cell-enriched autologous fat. Several clinical studies from Japan and the U.S. have now confirmed that stem cell-enriched autologous fat provides an ideal, durable and non-hazardous filler material for breast reconstruction after surgery, as well as for cosmetic breast augmentation.

This process is expensive, but yields the best possible results. Firstly breasts enlarged using the autologous stem cell method look completely natural in any position and in motion and also feel natural, because the injected stem cells form real living fat tissue. Lastly, this method leaves no visible scars.

Heinrich, MD

Some time ago, when we first started offering cosmetic interventions with autologous stem cells such as breast augmentation with stem cells, I predicted that in the near future stem cells could also be used for regeneration. And that anti-aging medicine and the treatment of chronic diseases would benefit alike. I promised you that I would keep you informed of new developments in this exciting field. And now that is what has happened: as one of the first centers in Europe to do so, we are able to offer you regenerative therapies with autologous stem cells from fat tissue!

Autologous (the body’s own) stem cells hardly age at all and have the capability of regenerating and rejuvenating the body’s organs and tissues. This has been known for years, and these findings are used in anti-aging therapy as well as for the treatment of degenerative and chronic diseases as well as in aesthetic surgery. Fatty tissue is the most important “autologous storehouse” of these precious cells; the density of stem cells in fatty tissue is much higher than in bone marrow, for example.

Regenerative stem cell therapy requires the suctioning of a small amount of fat. Next after having undergone suitable preparation the stem cells are isolated and then injected. Owing to the large quantity of stem cells in fatty tissue, unlike stem cells obtained from bone marrow or from the blood in the umbilical cord, stem cells obtained from fatty tissue do not need to be propagated artificially in the laboratory! Once the stem cells have been harvested and isolated, they can either be injected systemically or locally into a specific organ or tissue, as has been indicated. The stem cells can also be frozen and stored for future use.

The intervention is performed as an outpatient procedure under local anesthesia and takes around 2 hours. The amount of fat suctioned depends on the desired dose of stem cells. Generally a small quantity of fat suffices for obtaining the required dose of stem cells, which is done by means of a complex laboratory procedure. In the normal case of intravenous administration, the stem cells find the way to those building sites in the body where their regenerative and curative effect is needed on their own.

As a general rule the therapeutic effect manifests itself a few weeks after the application. The rejuvenating and regenerative effect of stem cells leads to noticeable and measurable improvements in looks, vitality, and organ functions, which can assume the nature of an overall rejuvenation.

This stem cell therapy can be administered either alone or in combination with Hormonal Regeneration® (a bioidentical hormone replacement therapy) and is one of the most promising contributions from cosmetic medicine to anti-aging medicine and medicine in general!

In the past we used to throw away the liposuctioned fat. Nowadays, however, we realize that it truly contains something akin to the elixir of life.

Heinrich, MD