Effects of Fat Preparation Methods on the Viabilities of Autologous Fat Grafts

Abstract

Fat grafts are commonly used in plastic surgery, but their unpredictable absorption rates are a considerable disadvantage. Furthermore, no agreement has been reached regarding the method that best enables fat graft survival. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different preparation methods on fat graft viability. Fat tissue was harvested from the remnants of transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flaps by syringe aspiration. Harvested fat tissue was prepared using three different methods: centrifugation, metal sieve concentration, and cotton gauze concentration. To evaluate the viabilities of fat cells, XTT assays were performed. For the study, 18 nude mice were allocated to three groups: the centrifugation, metal sieve, and cotton gauze groups (6 mice per group). Prepared fat (1 ml) was injected into the nuchal area of the mice, and 12 weeks later, grafts were dissected to determine graft survival rates and subjected to histologic analysis. No significant differences were observed in graft survival rates and histologic findings (necrosis and vascularity) between the three groups. However, histologic analysis found the metal sieve group to have significantly lower fat cell viability and more inflammation than the other two groups. The findings suggest that the closed centrifugation technique has no advantage over the open cotton gauze technique in terms of fat graft viability, and that the metal sieve concentration method is deficient as a preparation method because it can cause grafted fat degradation.

Comparison of Cell Number, Viability, Phenotypic Profile, Clonogenic, and Proliferative Potential of Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Populations Between Centrifuged and Noncentrifuged Fat

“…At this writing, Coleman's technique has been increasingly applied worldwide although often altered by personal modifications. In recent years, many authors have compared the products of different processing methods including sedimentation by gravity [28], washing [28], centrifugation [29][30][31][32][33], and filtering techniques [34][35][36], but their experimental studies have evaluated only single parameters (i.e., cell viability or cell enrichment), leading to biased appraisal of this crucial issue. Thus, the results still are controversial, and surgeons do not currently agree on which method is best for processing fat grafts before clinical use.…”

Effects of sub-sonic vibration on the proliferation and maturation of 3T3-L1 cells

“…Nevertheless, extra body fat can be desirable for cosmetic purposes such as breast augmentation, wrinkle improvement. However, the unpredictable absorption of fat grafts remains a substantial problem (Minn et al, 2010). Additionally, silicone-based implants for breast Life Sciences 88 (2011) …”

Using Breast MRI to Evaluate Complications of Autologous Fat Grafting

“…By contrast, a rapid growth of new procedures used to collect larger amounts of transplantable fatty tissue by using liposuction (e.g., water-assisted liposuction); and the procedure of autologous lipo-transplantation after tissue separations. By conducting a series of procedures that focus on the superfluous water, fat purification, and centrifugation, the viable fat tissue could then be harvested [22,23]. Smith et al using breast MRI to compare the image morphological change of fat grafted breasts before and after using this type of improved technique in operations [22].…”