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Although surgical procedures using stem cells are more complex than a normal operation, specialists ensure that results will be much better. For this, they rely on a multidisciplinary team involved in the process
PUERTO LA CRUZ.- Injecting stem cells with growth factors in the face or hands to fill depressions or improve deformities requires proven medical and technological skills in order to get the results expected by both the specialists and the patient undergoing the operation.
Plastic surgeon Billy Spence specifies that “first, the fat must be collected from the abdominal area where the most adipose tissue is and, therefore, the highest amount of stem cells. Near the operating room, there should be a support laboratory. Once the fat is obtained by liposuction, it is carried to the site to extract the stem cells.”
Miguel Dempere, another plastic surgeon, explains that this fat is centrifuged, the main oily part is discarded and the concentrated cells remain to obtain a greater number of them.
Parallel to this procedure, the plastic surgeon should have prepared the cell growth factors derived from blood (plasma). This requires the support of a bioanalyst or a specialized laboratory.
"Ultimately, the fat you have collected, the stem cells derived and nourishment provided by cell growth factors, all three elements allow tissue to grow, regardless of where you place it," explains Dr. Spence.
Normal process
The specialist indicated that, like all stem cells, they grow four or five times faster than normal cells due to growth factors. However, if there is unbridled growth, can it be stopped?
"Apparently, and there is no further explanation to this, these stem cells seem to acquire a memory resembling that of the cells they replace, that is, if injected into the face, they acquire the memory of a face cell and will not cause a tumor to form, but will grow normally. That is the reason why we are now using them in facial reconstruction, in all the places where there are depressions or deformations of the face," says Spence.
Therefore, these cells are used in depressions (holes, wrinkles, crow’s feet) and facial deformities. However, he makes clear that although they do not take the place of a prosthesis, they can be used to augment breasts a little.
"So far, this technique is under study and is only applied in specific cases, such as facial defects and hand implants."
Dr. Spence said that, in the past, fat alone was used and it had a reabsorption level of 30%, that is to say, some 100 cc were injected and 70 cc were retained. Today, the fat is put together with the stem cells and the growth factors maintain the volume applied.
"This mix with stem cells may be used in other areas of medicine to combat such difficult diseases as Parkinson’s disease. We have not done that as yet, but plastic surgery will soon support these fields".
Few constraints
According to surgeons Miguel Dempere and Billy Spence, this procedure of facial regeneration with stem cells can be applied to any person whose preoperative laboratory tests and examinations are optimal.
Only patients with a history of cancer with a pathology like lupus, leukemia or any such condition is limited in this type of surgery. "This procedure is not done on them because we don’t know how to the patient would react."
And the recovery is equal to that of a normal surgery, "the only thing is you are adding some stuff that will grow much faster and will preserve defect correction for longer," explains Spence.
For the public
On May 16, plastic surgeons Miguel Dempere and Billy Spence, together with a multidisciplinary team comprising executives of the Ophthalmology Society of Venezuela, pathologist Antonio Primavera and psychiatrist Rafael Arciniega, among others, will meet at the Dimitrios Demu Museum in Lecherías. The specialists will be offering the latest advances in ophthalmology equipment, laser liposuction, tummy tucks, psychiatry of obesity and stem cells, according to Spence.
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