Arlington Heights, Ill. – Preoperative expansion of the breast followed by injection of the patient’s own fat provides a safe and effective alternative to implant surgery for breast augmentation, reports a study in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

The technique-also known as Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation,  includes using a special suction-pump bra device for a few weeks before surgery to “pre-expand” the breasts-provides greater augmentation than fat transfer alone, according to the new report. The lead author was ASPS Member Surgeon Roger K. Khouri, MD of Florida International University and Miami Breast Center, Key Biscayne, Fla.

Pre-Expansion Provides Better Results with Injected Fat
The technique is an adaptation of the increasingly popular autologous (patient’s own) fat transplantation technique. In this approach, fat obtained by liposuction from one part of the body-for example, the thighs-is transferred for use in breast augmentation and reshaping.

In the technique used by Dr. Khouri and colleagues, the patient first undergoes several weeks of “pre-expansion” treatment. This is done using Dr. Khouri’s invention, Brava®, a bra-like device that uses gentle negative pressure (a vacuum) to gradually expand the breast. Brava pre-expansion provides extra room in the breast, along with a “fibrovascular scaffold” that the transplanted fat cells can occupy. The patient also wears Brava for a week or so after fat cell injection.

The study presents the results of the new technique in 81 women who desired breast augmentation but didn’t want implants. All but ten patients used Brava as instructed before the fat transfer procedure.

One year after surgery, breast volume was increased by an average of about 230 cc (about eight fluid ounces) in women undergoing the Brava procedure. That was significantly greater than the 130 cc average reported by previous studies using fat transplantation alone without pre-expansion.

A Less-Invasive Alternative for Breast Augmentation?
The difference was explained by increased survival of transplanted fat cells after pre-expansion: about 80 percent, as measured by MRI scans before and after surgery. This compared to about 55 percent fat cell survival without pre-expansion.

There were no major complications. Sixteen percent of women had areas of fat cell necrosis (cell death), which was harmless and easily detected on mammograms.

While the idea of breast fat transfer is not new, it has seen a resurgence in recent years, with several groups of plastic surgery researchers reporting successful results. However, relatively low survival of the transplanted fat cells has been a limiting factor. Without pre-expansion, there is simply not enough room within the breast for the transplanted fat cells to survive and thrive.

Using Brava before and after fat transplantation provides more optimal conditions for successful fat transfer, Dr. Khouri and colleagues believe. Another group of plastic surgeons recently reported similarly good results with Brava pre-expansion (see Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, June, 2011).

With recommended use of the Brava device before fat transfer, at least some women can expect to double their original breast size in a single, outpatient procedure with no incision, Dr. Khouri and coauthors write. While further research and experience are needed, the researchers think their study “establishes a benchmark and a platform for further potential improvements.”

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
About ASPS

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the world’s largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Representing more than 7,000 Member Surgeons, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. ASPS advances quality care to plastic surgery patients by encouraging high standards of training, ethics, physician practice and research in plastic surgery.

Buy one Microderm and receive a complimentary Oxytrio Facial ($200 for $75).

This treatment will not only minimize pores but will rejuvenate and hydrate your skin to show off a radiant and youthful glow.

This offer cannot be combined with other specials.  Offer and appointments must be booked by  May 31, 2012.

Send a friend and receive $25 “Bednar Bucks” toward Botox and/or Juvederm treatment.

Don’t forget Mother’s Day.

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Learn more about Cellulaze.

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Promo 2: Buy 25 units of Botox for $225 ($9/unit) and receive $25.00 of Bednar Bucks to be used toward any skin care treatment of your choice.

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All promotions come with a complimentary skin care analysis and are limited in supply so call the office at 704-366-6700 to reserve your promotion today !!

Luxurious Microderm treatment for face, eyes, and décolletage to eradicate fine lines and wrinkles and sun damaged skin.

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For only $399 ( a $600 value) We will include a 25 unit syringe of Botox to the package above.

Offer valid through May 31st.

Cellulite is the bane of many women, especially as swim suit season nears. Bednar Cosmetic Surgery of Charlotte is one of the first medical practice in the region to offer a cellulite treatment that tackles the composition underneath the skin causing the cellulite. The treatment is called Cellulaze and not only is Bednar Cosmetic Surgery of Charlotte one of the first to offer this advanced treatment, but Dr. Edward Bednar, medical director of Bednar Cosmetic Surgery, is training doctors across the country on how to successfully perform the procedure.

To celebrate our introduction of Cellulaize to Bednar Cosmetic Surgery we are offering 18 months* interest no financing to all patients who schedule a consultation by April 15th. To schedule you consultation  call 704-366-6700 (Financing provided by CareCredit. For qualified candidates only.)

Aging skin, hormones, genetics and dramatic weight changes can all play a role in the appearance of cellulite. These factors can cause connective tissue bands under the skin to stiffen and the fat cells they surround to become larger and push up into the skin causing the cottage cheese appearance.

Many other anti-cellulite treatments focus on cellulite superficially, applying treatment above the skin. Cellulaze is attacks the structural problems beneath the skin that cause cellulite. Through a minimally invasive, laser-assisted procedure, Dr. Bednar will level out bumps of fat through a couple of tiny incisions and release fibrous bands that pull down on the skin. The procedure will also stimulate collagen production to increase skin’s depth and elasticity for a smoother look.

Recovery from the Cellulaze treatment is short with normal activities resuming after only one or two days and only minimal bruising. Results will also continue to improve over the next several months.

What makes Cellulaze significantly different from other anti-cellulite treatments is that the treatment tackles the composition beneath the skin causing the cellulite. Cellulaze gives you visibly smoother, healthier looking skin that lasts. This is also a procedure that can only be done in the hands of licensed plastic surgeon to ensure exceptional results and patient comfort. Watch a Video & Read more..

e-Stetix© is the first fully interactive web-based 3D simulator for breast augmentation, based on the patient’s physical properties. With just three standard digital photos and a few body measurements, e-Stetix© generates an immediate 3D simulation of the patient’s pre-surgery body. With a few clicks, Dr. Bednar and his patient position the desired implant, selected from a comprehensive implant catalogue and specify the insertion technique, to generate a remarkably accurate, instantaneous 3D simulation of the patient’s post-surgery body.

The first 3D Virtual Wardrobe

For the first time in plastic surgery history, patients seeking breast augmentation can visualize their new bodies in 3D, dressed for any occasion. With e-Stetix©, Dr. Bednar takes the consultation to yet another level and satisfies his patient’s ultimate desire: to know how her ‘new’ body will look in her favorite clothes. The 3D Virtual Wardrobe from e-Stetix© allows the patient to easily imagine how she will look after surgery and see herself in her new life; with a trendy décolleté for a dinner party with friends, a revealing bikini for her beach holiday, or a chic office ensemble.

Ahead of the market, and moving forward

This sophisticated state-of-the-art web-based “cloud” solution is now available worldwide, 24/7, to physicians and their patients, and requires no software or hardware installation. Although currently available only for breast augmentations, e-Stetix© 3D simulations for liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose enhancements) and face, brow, and eye lifts are in development and will be introduced in the near future. With visual imaging standards changing rapidly from 2D to 3D for everything from TV to movies, 3D consultations for aesthetic procedures will soon be every patient’s requirement.

Here at Bednar Cosmetic Surgery of Charlotte, we are offering one of the latest advances in plastic surgery for augmentation procedures. Fat cell transfer or body fat transfer is a natural alternative to enhancing parts of the body, such as the breasts and buttocks. Compared to traditional breast augmentation techniques, a fat transfer augmentation removes fat from the body and transfers to the designated area(s) without the risk of complications or rejection.

As an added benefit, liposuction is used to remove the fat that will be used in the fat transfer to augment certain areas of the body. The fat is removed from the thighs, abdomen, buttocks or another area with excess fat, which slims and tones that area of the body on the patient.

Click on image below for other angles – “This is how I looked when I was seventeen. ” She is now forty eight!

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Once the fat cells are harvested through liposuction, they are processed and purified before being injected into the area of the body being augmented. The fat is placed with precision to ensure the right aesthetics and most natural appearance while allowing the fat cells to survive.

“The ability to enhance an area of the body while trimming another is one of the many great benefits of a body fat transfer,” said Dr. Edward Bednar, medical director of Bednar Cosmetic Surgery of Charlotte. “Our patient’s results have been outstanding and thanks to the use of the patient’s own body fat, the risks are minimal and therefore one less thing a patient has to worry about when deciding on an augmentation procedure.” Read More and View Before and After Photos.

Want to learn more, just give us a call (704) 366-6700.

By Elizabeth Owens-Schiele, Special to the Tribune

December 28, 2011
Lucia Williams decided as she approached her 40th birthday that it was time for a tummy tuck and breast enhancement.

The northwest Indiana resident chose a doctor who came highly recommended by a co-worker. But after the surgery, performed at a outpatient clinic in Chicago, Williams passed out in the shower at home. Her husband rushed her to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with septic shock and airlifted to the intensive care unit at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Later, doctors removed her breast implants and skin flaps left over from her tummy tuck.

Williams recovered but was left with scars and recurring skin rashes. Dr. David H. Song, who was among those who treated Williams at the University of Chicago, stressed that the complications she suffered from the earlier procedure are extremely rare.

Still, Song points to Williams’ case as an cautionary tale because the doctor who performed her initial procedure was not a board-certified plastic surgeon. Williams, too, said she regrets not doing more research before choosing a doctor. (A lawsuit she filed against the physician was later dismissed by a judge.)

Though Williams’ procedure was several years ago, more doctors who are not plastic surgeons are offering cosmetic procedures. From dentists and obstetricians administering Botox to general surgeons offering breast implants, many doctors say it provides a steady cash income without the bureaucratic hassles and often-delayed reimbursements from insurers or the government.

Song, chief of the plastic surgery section at the U. of C. Pritzker School of Medicine, said he believes nonspecialists shouldn’t perform any cosmetic procedures.

“You wouldn’t go to your plastic surgeon to get your baby delivered or screened for cervical cancer or to get a Pap smear,” Song said. “It takes six years to be a board-certified plastic surgeon, and we learn the intricate anatomy of the face and the nerves. … We have more training and are in the best position to do these types of procedures.”

Yet other doctors say there’s a safe middle ground. They make a distinction between relatively minor procedures like wrinkle-smoothing injections and riskier and more invasive procedures like weight-loss surgeries.

Progressive Care for Women is an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in downtown Chicago that also offers cosmetic procedures like laser hair removal and spider vein treatments.

“So many of our patients ask about (Botox) and it’s very easy and low-risk,” said Dr. Michele Hakimian, one of the clinic physicians. “I even know an internist, an ER doctor and (others) doing Botox as well. A lot of it came about because of health care changes, and a lot of doctors seek cash services so they don’t have to deal with managed care.”

Several Chicago-area OB-GYN doctors said some cosmetic offerings are a natural outgrowth of their primary work, since, after a pregnancy, women sometimes complain about spider veins, cesarean section scars and the unwanted hair growth from menopause-related hormone treatment.

“There’s a huge demand for services for anti-aging and beauty treatments,” Hakimian said. “(Our patients) trust us because we’ve been with them for so many years of their life.”

Two of the clinic’s patients, Pam Farley, 45, and Kiran Ionita, 33, separately said they prefer to have cosmetic procedures done in a doctor’s office rather than at a hair salon or spa.

“A lot of places in the city, the spas, will give you raspberries and champagne and music. I don’t want all the fluff,” said Ionita, a schoolteacher who said she spends about $300 a month on services like laser acne treatment and facials.

Dr. Joel Polin, who wrote a position paper for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on OB-GYN doctors performing cosmetic procedures, said he believes only a small fraction of the professional association’s 35,000 members perform such procedures.

“I think if they are trained to do them and they want to do them and their patients want to do them, they should do them,” Polin said.

Still, the position paper also addresses ethical concerns and standards. Polin, a professor of obstetrics at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, said gynecologists should not suggest cosmetic procedures to patients but merely provide information when requested. Such procedures shouldn’t be aggressively marketed beyond small signs or pamphlets in a doctor’s office that patients can “look at … or reject,” he said.

Many such signs and brochures come directly from drug manufacturers. A representative of Allergan, the manufacturer of such beauty products as Latisse for eyelash enhancement, Botox and Juvederm facial fillers, said while any licensed doctor can order or prescribe its products, the company hasn’t seen a significant increase in OB-GYN offices offering such treatments.

Allergan “is committed to providing physician education and training on our facial aesthetics product portfolio and to advocating that consumers go and seek consultation from a trained and qualified doctor to ensure optimal patient outcomes,” spokeswoman Heather Katt said in a statement.