Breast implant and aesthetic specialities supplier Mentor Corp. was acquired by medical products giant, Johnson & Johnson on December 1st, 2008 for a reported $1.1 billion.

JP Morgan analyst Michael Weinstein said the deal was most likely possible thanks to the recent economic strain, which had Mentor aggressively marketing its silicone implants over its other products.

While the vast majority of Mentor’s income is in breast implants, in mid-late 2010, Mentor is expected to receive FDA approval on a new wrinkle reducing, botulinum toxin-derived injectable. The new drug - Purtox - will compete with Allergan’s well known wrinkle reducer, Botox.

CNN aired a news segment this week about the Japanese surgeon Kotaro Yoshimura and his innovative, but somewhat controversial breast augmentation method, which uses stem cells to successfully perform fat grafting during breast augmentation procedures. Yoshimura has received public notoriety for the technique and according to the news report, clinical trials are underway in the U.S.

Officials from the Food and Drug Administration met in November with a group of outside experts to review complications that have been reported in association with cosmetic dermal filler injections.

Over the last six years, there have been roughly 900 reports of wrinkle filler issues.  Juvederm, Restylane, Radiesse and other new offerings are products that fall under this category. The group will discuss the possibility of labeling changes and the seriousness of the reported issues.  Is this a reason to be concerned about dermal filler safety?  Yes and No.

It may sound alarming to those outside the surgery profession, but the complications and side effects associated with these products are still extremely rare.  Demand for fillers and wrinkle reducers like Botox has risen dramatically, leading many  untrained persons to believe that they can administer them in non-medical settings. The majority of industry professionals will attribute most of the reported complications to issues like these.

There are also well known problems that occur on a very infrequent basis, like minor swelling or allergic reactions, with the latter being a subject of greater FDA interest.  According to a recent MSNBC news article, Allergan spokeswoman Caroline Van Hove said “no serious problems were seen in clinical trials of Juvederm, and the most common complaint since its approval was swelling in 0.4 percent of patients.”

Also, Food and Drug Administration officials noted that the “reports had several limitations such as failing to say when the problems started.”

Safety and proper training is of the utmost importance when considering any surgical or cosmetic procedure, so we recommend that all patients seek a knowledgeable plastic surgeon with the right qualifications.

For more information on the FDA panel discussion, the briefing is located here.

An Orlando plastic surgeon recently outlined the status of modern breast cancer treatments and the efforts of the medical community to minimize its adverse effects through reconstruction and prevention.

Dr. Richard Bosshardt writes that society’s value of the breast is an ancient phenomenon since historically, many people have viewed them as symbolic of “femininity and desirability.”  Given this observation, it is easy to realize why the possibility of breast removal or disfigurement can be so scary.

Many women know to focus on prevention and are aware of the breast cancer statistics, but aren’t informed about positive developments on the horizon.  New information shared by Dr. Bosshardt in the Orlando Sentinel suggests that ‘genetic markers’ have become excellent risk indicators, narrowing the search for a definite cause.  Also, he notes that breast implants, bras and high-fat diets have never been shown to increase the risk of cancer.

Doctors have finally begun practicing “breast conservation” rather than outright breast removal and reconstruction has become more sophisticated than ever with patients often looking better as an end result.  The article can be viewed here.

Art Caplan is the University of Pennsylvania director for the center of Bioethics. Last summer he gave a one-hour lecture at the historic Chautauqua Institution about extended life, enhancement of our bodies and the potential use of advanced stem cell technology to achieve these goals.

Caplan argues for the permissibility of enhancement by refuting the arguments of a group he calls “new puritans”, who object to medical advancements that could enable us to live longer and look better. Persons who hold this puritanical view often disapprove of cosmetic enhancement as well.  One person in his audience had spoken of a family member getting a facelift, and a younger woman responded with harsh criticism saying, “that’s terrible.  It’s unbelievable that you would do that, you should simply accept the changes as they come.”

Caplan systematically dismisses each of these objections and presents his own argument in favor of true anti-aging, based on a theory that we could double the life-span of a human with the help of stem cells.

His proposal in favor of embryonic stem cell research is this:  We’ve already doubled our lifespan since ancient times.  There is no “natural order of things” when it comes to how long we should exist or how good we should look during that time.  Stem cell technology need not come from new sources, but embryos that we already use for other purposes.

What we use to repair disease, we can also use to enhance.  There can be whole body rejuvenation, including the mind, with the help of this technology.  Skin, organs, hair and everything in between can be enhanced with regenerative cells.  Similar things have successfully been done to small organisms.  If we fund it now and conquer these frivolous (and perhaps not so frivolous) arguments, real anti aging can become a reality.

The hour-long lecture can be found in its entirety here on Minnesota Public Radio.

New research by medical scientists has revealed that human body fat is rich in stem cells. This discovery has spawned many interesting developments on the plastic surgery front. In Japan, a surgeon named Kotaro Yoshimura claims he can fortify fat even further with stem cells and use the product to perform a breast augmentation. The regenerative properties of stem cells apparently make this possible.

A similar procedure has been documented in the United States, but unlike Yoshimura’s technique, it doesn’t involve stem cell fortification. Dr Sydney Coleman of New York claims he has been performing breast augmentations using transplanted fat for years. He published an article in the publication Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery detailing the process.

But Coleman’s technique comes with certain risks. The most undesirable and commonly associated risk is the death and subsequent calcification of the transplanted fat. The body rejects the reintroduced tissue, failing to integrate it into its surroundings. Some speculate that this process might also hinder the effectiveness of mammogram screening.

Theoretically, fat supplemented with stem cells should more readily integrate itself with the body, as a new blood supply forms and the blood vessels bond with the new tissue. If this indeed became a reality, the breast implant would cease to be an implant and become a wholly natural augmentation.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic surgery is funding a related study. Interested patients should visit can www.ClinicalTrials.gov for more information.

In August, 2008 a Florida woman named April Pinkard told her surgery story to a local newspaper. The headline read, “The Woman Whose Heart Was in the Wrong Place” and the story focused on Ms. Pinkard’s rare heart condition. Well, rare conditions call for rare solutions and the one chosen for her by surgeons at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic is nothing short of that.

Three years prior to the story, during what was probably a routine medical exam, her doctor revealed something terribly strange. She recalls “he listened [for] my heartbeat one day and it just wasn’t there.” Further inspections led doctors to conclude that her heart had shifted, into an open area that her lung once occupied. Ms. Pinkard once suffered from a congenital lung disease, prompting the removal of one lung at age 4. Over the course of about 30 years of life, her heart became mobile - apparently an unintended consequence of the lung removal.

Her condition was critical. To save her life, doctors had to operate quickly.

Dr. Choudhury referred her to the Mayo Clinic, where surgeons opened her up, “filled her chest cavity with water and floated it into the correct position.” To prevent further movement of the heart, they placed breast implants in her chest, to fill the void left by her missing lung. She tells reporters “you can hear it move. If I push on my chest you can feel the squishes.”

She still faces some health issues, like the possibility of a lung transplant sometime in the future. But Pinkard is strong willed and has a very positive outlook about the whole experience. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have such talented medical professionals on her side.

Wishing to rid themselves of baggy, tired skin under their eyes, more and more men are choosing cosmetic surgery. Blepharoplasty, commonly known as a eyelid surgery, can give men or women back the smoother, more awake appearance they lost with age. If you live in or near Seattle, contact Dr. Robert Grenley for a consultation to see if eyelid surgery is right for you.

A recent study found that those undereye bags are the result of fat deposits near the lower eyelid that accumulate as we age. In contrast, the rest of the face loses fat with age. Previous theories said undereye bags might be due to fluid buildup or sagging skin. Blepharoplasty helps correct undereye bags by removing excess fat from under the eyes.

A study that recently appeared in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal found that women who had breast reduction surgery to reduce the size of their large breasts had less back pain and greater self-esteem following the procedure. According to statistics, more than 150,000 women had breast reduction surgery last year.

“This study further demonstrates that the connection between the aesthetic results of plastic surgery and the emotional, social and physical quality of life of our patients cannot be underestimated,” said Dr. Alan Gold, president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

If you live in or near Seattle and are feeling weighed down by your breasts, contact Dr. Robert Grenley for a breast reduction consultation.

A California dermatologist was recently slapped for using “black market Botox” - he was reprimanded for injecting non-FDA approved botulinum toxin into ten of his patients.

In an effort to save some money, he and a hundred or so of his colleagues purchased the black market Botox at medical conventions without realizing it wasn’t approved for use in patients.

This story highlights just how important it is to find a reputable, board-certified plastic surgeon for your procedures, whether they are something as simple as Botox or something more complicated.

Dr. Grenley is a well-respected surgeon in Seattle with extensive experience using Botox injections to melt away wrinkles.