What it means for a patient
- Fat taken from the patient's own body can be used to fill and soften facial scars from burns or injury.
- In this study, fat enriched with SVF cells or mixed with PRP kept more volume at 1 year than fat prepared by centrifuging alone.
- Some of the grafted volume was lost in every group by 1 year.
- This is a small study: 30 patients in total, 10 per group. The abstract does not say how patients were assigned to groups.
Why this paper matters
It described the lab steps for preparing SVF cells and PRP and reported 1-year volume retention for each fat grafting approach in facial scars. It compared both enriched methods with plain centrifuged fat.
Overview
A patient's own fat is used in breast surgery, facial rejuvenation, buttock augmentation, Romberg syndrome and the repair of liposuction problems. The authors describe how they prepared stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells and platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and report their use to treat scars on the face. Two treated groups of 10 patients were compared with a control group of 10 patients treated with centrifuged fat.
Findings
- Group 1: 10 patients (6 with burn sequelae, 4 with post-traumatic scars) received SVF-enhanced fat grafts prepared with the Celution System.
- Group 2: 10 patients (5 with burn sequelae, 5 with post-traumatic scars) received Coleman-technique fat grafts mixed with 0.5 mL of PRP.
- Control group: 10 patients received centrifuged fat grafts.
- SVF group: 63% maintenance of contour restoration at 1 year, compared with 39% in the control group (P < 0.0001).
- PRP group: 69% maintenance of contour restoration at 1 year, compared with the control group.
- The authors conclude that fat grafting is a good method for correcting facial scars in place of surgical scar excision.
- The abstract does not report complications.
Terms
- Autologous fat graft: fat taken from one part of a patient's body and injected into another.
- Stromal vascular fraction (SVF): a mix of cells, including stem-like cells, separated from fat tissue.
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP): a portion of the patient's own blood with a high concentration of platelets, which carry growth factors.
- Celution System: a device that separates SVF cells from fat during the procedure.
- Coleman technique: a method of fat grafting that places small amounts of fat through a blunt cannula in many passes.
- Centrifugation: spinning fat at high speed to separate it from fluid and oil.
- Burn sequelae: lasting effects of a burn, such as scarring.
- Post-traumatic scar: a scar left by an injury.
- Romberg syndrome: a condition in which the tissues on one side of the face slowly waste away.