New Cosmetic Surgery

A while back there were detailed reports in the media about ex-soccer player and trainer Lothar Matthäus’ girlfriend’s silicone breast augmentation. Reports on silicone breast augmentations in famous people delude patients into thinking that silicone is the most up-to-date and ideal breast augmentation method, although thanks to state-of-the-art technology and stem cell research findings, silicone implants are no longer necessary in most cases!

Several clinical studies in Japan and the USA have since clearly demonstrated that stem cell-enriched autologous fat is an ideal, durable, and non-hazardous filler material, not only for post-operative breast reconstruction but also for cosmetic breast augmentation!

Augmentations by as much as 1 to 2 cup sizes are possible with breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat – without scalpels, ugly scars, and general anesthesia. In stem cell-assisted breast augmentation, autologous fat is gently liposuctioned with microcannulas from the buttocks, belly, or hips, enriched with autologous stem cells, and then injected in the breasts. The punctures from the injections are comparable to those for taking blood and they heal without forming scars. The result is permanent. Stem cell-augmented breasts feel and look totally natural in any position because the augmentation consists of autologous, living cells, and no foreign objects capable of provoking rejections or slipping and bouncing up and down like soccer balls as you move are implanted in your body.

Heinrich, MD

The media recently reported that vocalist Amy Winehouse suffered a breast implant rupture. A while ago she had had her breasts augmented with implants on a whim, and generated a great deal of media attention. Apparently she required another operation to replace the defective implant! But thanks to breast augmentation with autologous stem cells, “implant ruptures” and the “implant replacements” every few years associated with silicone implants are a thing of the past: Along with a natural appearance, what distinguishes breasts augmented with autologous stem cells is that they are “maintenance free”!

Along with the relatively rare rupture of a silicone implant, there are numerous other, much more common negative effects of artificial breast implants: Many women with silicone implants complain of pain while swimming or showering with cold water for years. So-called capsular fibrosis impairs the visual result and cause problems. With silicone breast augmentation, after a few years the breast stretches because of the implant and begins to sag, making an implant replacement necessary. This usually involves emplacement of larger implants in order to make the breast appear firmer. Many cases ultimately require a surgical breast tightening. Hence many stars in recent years have simply had their implants removed. But how can the volume be restored?

With autologous stem cells! Breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat is a prime example of the substitution of minimally invasive surgical interventions under local anesthesia for plastic surgery. In early 2007, we used this revolutionary method in my Clinic DDr. Heinrich in Vienna for the first time in Europe. In this procedure, autologous fat is first extracted from the patient’s body using microcannular liposuction. Next this fat is enriched with autologous stem cells in a laboratory process and injected into the breast using fine hypodermic needles. Living, autologous tissue develops from the stem cells. Breasts thus augmented look as well as feel completely “genuine” in any position. They age completely naturally with the body.

Because autologous stem cells exert a local rejuvenating effect, another area of application in cosmetic medicine is the scalpel-free facelift, in which stems cell are injected in the face and neck region. The result is a long-lasting, natural and up to 15 years younger looking face. Another important area of application for stem cells looming on the horizon is the treatment of hair loss, which could soon make hair transplants superfluous.

Thanks to cosmetic interventions with stem cells, in many cases silicone, scalpels, and liftings are no longer necessary in breast and facial surgery. I believe that cosmetic medicine already has the means at hand to treat many physical beauty problems successfully, sustainably, and naturally with stem cell-enriched autologous fat.

Heinrich, MD

Q: How long have you been using stem cells for breast augmentation?

A: Since 2006.

Q: What kind of stem cell do you use?

A: Only adult stem cells extracted from the patient’s own fat.

Q: Could you explain how is done?

A: First we harvest fat with microcannulas that do not leave scars from fat deposits on the patient’s body. From the harvested fat we take one portion and isolate stem cells from it using special patented laboratory technology. Then we mix these stem cells with the other portion of fat that has been already specially prepared for injection and implant it with fine cannulas into the breast. The surgery is done completely under local anaesthesia and the patient is then ready to go home.

Q: What kind of results are you obtaining?

A: Excellent, durable results. 90 % long-term satisfaction rate, completely natural augmented breasts that look natural in every position and in movement, exercising, etc.

Q: How long does it take to see the first changes? Can they be seen immediately?

A: The augmentation of the breast can be seen immediately; after the swelling resolves three weeks after the surgery the final result is visible. Minor changes (small increase or small decrease) are possible in the first months.

Q: How many women have been treated using stem cell-enriched autologous fat.

A: Since 2003 worldwide many thousand women have undergone this procedure, especially in Japan.

Q: What are the main indications? Can this method be used for any case or not?

A: We can use it in any indication of cosmetic breast augmentation or breast reconstruction with excellent results instead of silicon. An augmentation of one cup size per surgery is typically achieved. Augmentation bigger than 1.5 or 2 cup sizes in just one procedure are only achieved in women with a little bit flabby breasts (like after breastfeeding and childbirth), because the flexibility allows for more volume of stem cell-enriched fat to be injected than in tighter breasts. Also slim women can be treated successfully. Very slim women who desire very big and unnatural augmentations still need to rely on silicon.

Q: What are the advantages of the technique?

A: A smooth, minimally invasive surgical technique, silicon-free, scar-free, completely natural augmented breasts – the technique is especially recommendable for women who do want a little bit body sculpturing at the same time. The technique also visibly rejuvenates the breasts of women over 40 due to the high content of stem cells in the implanted fat. The technique is also used for facial rejuvenation and – being an important tool of “New Cosmetic Surgery” – for facelift without scalpel as well as rejuvenation of hands, décolleté, etc.

Q: Could you give me the name of other researchers in this area around the world?

A: Dr. Yoshimura of Cellport Clinic would be one of them, Dr. Kamakura of Kyushu Hospital another one. Both work in Tokyo.

Heinrich, MD

In addition to being foreign objects and looking unnatural, silicone implants have several other serious disadvantages: Did you know that women with silicone implants often have pains for years if they go swimming in cool water or take cold showers? Visible scars are unavoidable with implants, and worst of all the breast wears out after a few years from the weight of the implant, requiring breast tightening operations with implant replacement. At the present time no doctor knows what effect the minute amounts of silicone released from the implant over decades may have on the body. Even if there is no proof that it causes cancer or may be toxic, caution is advisable! Autologous tissue is safer than foreign objects!

With Macrolane, hyaluronic acid is injected in nut-sized deposits through small incisions below the breast. This means that new incisions have to be made for each new injection, which obviously leave visible scars. The nut-sized deposits can be felt as hard spots in the breasts, hence Macrolane is not suitable for every breast.

As to the cost of the procedure: With the manufacturer, Qmed, charging doctors € 350 (!) for 10 ml of Macrolane, it is easy to calculate that the price for a standard augmentation of 200 ml per side would be ca. € 14,000, plus surgeon’s fees, anesthesiologist’s fees, operating room fees, etc. Who wants to pay that much every 2 years?

The New Cosmetic Surgery, which I advocate and for which patients come to me in Vienna from all over the world, even Beverly Hills, spares women undergoing breast and facial procedures from scalpels, plastic, and silicone and means a considerable improvement of health and quality of life!

No medical procedure is entirely risk-free, but any women can intuitively see that there is more potential danger from a foreign object than from autologous tissue.

Gentle breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat is an alternative to silicone and hyaluronic acid: Clinical studies from Japan and the USA have since shown that stem cell-enriched autologous fat is an ideal, durable, and safe filler material not only for breast reconstruction, for exmple after cancer operations, but also for cosmetic breast augmentation!

Among the several thousand patients worldwide treated thus far, not a single case of “tissue proliferation” or “non-healing” has been documented, as is sometimes postulated without study results to back it up. It sounds suspicious that these “risks” are merely defensive statements on the part of those plastic surgeons who know nothing of the stem cell method and see it as a threat to their “quick incision” (operation time for silicone implants: 15 minutes) business.

This procedure is very time consuming and hence does not allow the surgeon a “quick incision.” Nevertheless, it produces the best possible results for the patient – the autologous stem cell-augmented breasts look and feel completely natural in any position and in movement because living fat tissue develops from the injected stem cells. This method leaves no visible scars.

Heinrich, MD

I get a lot of e-mails from interested women around the world with questions on the subject of breast augmentation with stem cells. This method has since become established as a pillar of New Cosmetic Surgery and spares many patients from silicone and plastic surgery. Today I received a letter from an interested English lady, in which she wrote that she had a consultation in a clinic that offered CAL (Cell-Assisted Lipotransfer) for breast augmentation. The doctors at that clinic told her that although they recently started offering CAL (= the stem cell method), they would not recommend it because they weren’t that satisfied with the results.

In most cases such statements come from plastic surgeons who prefer silicone implants and do not like to admit that they are not familiar with breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat. Again and again patients are referred to me by foreign clinics, where they also use the stem cell method, but still do not have as much experience with it as we do here in Vienna. Because doctors know that I have operated on more patients in Europe with this method than anyone else, they are always advising patients to fly to Vienna to see me.

Many details are critical to success with this method – including, for example, obtaining fat the right way: standard liposuction with regular cannulas only works with patients who are well-endowed with fat pads. For more slender patients, it is necessary to resort to narrower diameter microcannulas for obtaining fat, as it is not possible to obtain enough fat using regular cannulas without leaving unsightly dents. Liposuction with microcannulas is the only way to obtain enough fat in a minimally invasive manner, also in regions that would be prohibitive for liposuction with regular cannulas.

A critical factor for success with the stem cell method is the doctor having sufficient interdisciplinary training in order to truly understand the process and ramifications of stem cell isolation and stem cell implantation. Purely surgical training focuses on manual reconstructive-operating skills with the scalpel. There is no place for training in the area of liposuction, autologous fat transplantation, or even stem cell technology and tissue engineering.

Only the training as a general practitioner (specializing in cosmetic surgery, anti-aging, and stem cell medicine) guarantees you that your doctor is up-to-date technologically and will not automatically resort to the scalpel and silicone, in spite of the fact that better, more modern, and less invasive methods have been around for some time!

Heinrich, MD

10 years ago, who would have thought that fat can also be useful? With interest I read the article in the current Profil about stem cells that, according to American scientists, can now be won from abdominal and hip fat. It is a fact that in Vienna we have already been working since 2006 with stem cells gained from the liposuction of abdominal and hip fat, and Japanese doctors have been doing this since 2003.

It is now known that these mesenchymal stem cells, which are possessed by everyone in an unlimited number, can be used for a number of innovative therapeutic purposes. And this without any ethical reservations, such as arise with the use of embryonic stem cells, and without the otherwise limiting factors like the painful and difficult extraction from bone marrow or the low cell density of stem cells won from skin.

As we work principally in the field of aesthetics and regeneration in my clinic, we consequently work chiefly with procedures such as breast augmentation without silicone, face rejuvenation without face-lifting, scar correction etc. Yet in many centres worldwide work is being done with therapeutic applications that will heal people with their own stem cells – and all this with a bit of abdominal fat!

Heinrich, MD