Controversial breast implant gel not toxic

Preliminary Testing Shows No Evidence of Toxicity

London –  The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, welcomes the news from the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) that the gel inside controversial PIP implants shows no evidence of chemical or genotoxicity (potential for cancer). The BAAPS, the not-for-profit organisation established for the advancement of education and practice of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery for public benefit, reiterate that any ruptured implants, of any kind, will still need removing.

A study earlier this year found that the company making the low-cost PIP implants, which has since gone into administration, not only dispensed with a protective shell from 2005 but was also using an untested gel, apparently intended for use in mattresses. Further tests are still being conducted by the French Competent Authority (AFSSAPS).

According to consultant plastic surgeon and BAAPS President Nigel Mercer:

“We would like to praise the MHRA for their proactive response in conducting safety tests and are delighted with the results – that there is little risk to patients from the gel. Hopefully this will reduce the anxiety of patients whilst further studies are expected from France. Our advice remains that women with suspected rupture contact their surgeon and undergo an ultrasound and removal, as they would with any ruptured implant.”

Argentina, among the most important centers for plastic surgery

- Worldwide Plastic Surgery Statistics Available for the First Time
- Non Surgical Procedures Outpace Surgical Procedures

New York – The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) is a world leader in plastic surgery. After a year-long process, the Society has produced the “ISAPS Biennial Global Survey(TM)” of plastic surgeons and procedures in the top 25 countries and regions – representing 75% of all procedures in 2009. The ISAPS Survey marks the first time reliable international plastic surgery data has been obtained and analyzed by independent statistical specialists.

“This year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of ISAPS,” noted Foad Nahai, MD of the United States and current President of ISAPS. “The Society was founded at the United Nations by a group of concerned and proactive plastic surgeons. We could think of no better way of commemorating this important milestone than by commissioning and releasing this breakthrough Survey.”

Geographic Trends

The ISAPS Global Survey revealed a new hierarchy of countries with the most surgical and non surgical cosmetic procedures. While the United States continues its dominance in the field, countries not always associated with plastic surgery are emerging as major centers.

The top 25 countries and regions are:

1. United States
2. China
3. Brazil
4. India
5. Mexico
6. Japan
7. South Korea
8. Germany
9. Turkey
10. Spain
11. Argentina
12. Russia
13. Italy
14. France
15. Canada
16. Taiwan
17. United Kingdom
18. Colombia
19. Greece
20. Thailand
21. Australia
22. Venezuela
23. Saudi Arabia
24. Netherlands
25. Portugal

Before and after tummy tuck & breast implants

Most Popular Surgical and Non Surgical Procedures

For the last ten years, the consensus has been that breast augmentation was the most popular plastic surgery procedure. The ISAPS Global Survey reveals a new trend with liposuction representing 18.8% of all surgical procedures, followed by breast augmentation at 17%, and blepharoplasty (upper or lower eyelid lift) at 13.5%, rhinoplasty (nose reshaping) at 9.4% and abdominoplasty (“Tummy Tuck”) at 7.3%.

The popularity of surgical procedures varied by country with Brazil, the United States, China, Mexico, India and Japan the dominant countries for the top five procedures.

Reflecting both advances in cosmetic surgery innovation and the desirability of less expensive treatments, the number of non surgical procedures performed by plastic surgeons actually topped surgical procedures. While there is no previous baseline of information against which to compare these figures, there can be no doubt that this is a dramatic turn of events.

The top five non surgical procedures are: toxins or neuromodulators injections (Botox, Dysport) (32.7%), hyaluronic acid injections (20.1%), laser hair removal (13.1%), autologous fat injections (taking a patient’s fat from one location and transferring it in the same patient in another location) (5.9%) and IP Laser treatment (4.4%).

The countries where non surgical procedures were performed were dominated by the United States, Brazil, Mexico and China and to a lesser extent by Japan, Hungary, South Korea, India and Germany.

Obesity in Early Adulthood Associated With Increased Risk of Psoriatic Arthritis

For information about bariatric surgery abroad please do not hesitate to contact Sublimis Argentina.

Chicago — Among persons with psoriasis, those who reported being obese at age 18 had an increased risk of developing psoriatic arthritis, according to a report in the July 19 issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Psoriatic arthritis is a specific type of arthritis that develops in the joints of some patients who have psoriasis. According to background information in the article, “obesity has emerged as a significant risk factor for psoriasis,” and “psoriatic arthritis affects 6 percent to 42 percent of people with psoriasis.” Additionally, “psoriatic arthritis shares some clinical features with rheumatoid arthritis, both leading to joint destruction and significant morbidity.”

Razieh Soltani-Arabshahi, M.D., of the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, and colleagues studied a volunteer sample of patients with dermatologist-diagnosed psoriasis enrolled in the Utah Psoriasis Initiative from November 2002 to October 2008. Of the 943 participants, 50.2 percent were women and psoriatic arthritis was present in 26.5 percent of participants with psoriasis (250 persons).

The study found that body mass index (BMI) at age 18 was predictive of psoriatic arthritis. Other predictors included younger age at psoriasis onset, being female and having larger body surface areas affected with psoriasis. Additionally, the findings show “the obese group having an earlier onset of psoriatic arthritis, followed by the overweight group and finally the normal BMI group.” Twenty percent of the overweight or obese group developed psoriatic arthritis by age 35 years while 20 percent of those individuals in the normal BMI group developed psoriatic arthritis by age 48.

The authors conclude that their findings, “support a growing concept that patients more prone to psoriatic arthritis might benefit from more frequent and meticulous screening measures for early detection and treatment of psoriatic arthritis, i.e., before the development of irreversible joint destruction.”

Genetic Basis of Alopecia Areata Established

Among the Most Common Forms of Hair Loss, Alopecia Areata Affects 5.3 Million in U.S.

New York – A team of investigators led by Columbia University Medical Center has uncovered eight genes that underpin alopecia areata, one of the most common causes of hair loss, as reported in a paper in the July 1, 2010 issue of Nature. Since many of the genes are also implicated in other autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes – and treatments have already been developed that target these genes – this discovery may soon lead to new treatments for the 5.3 million Americans suffering from hair loss caused by alopecia areata.

According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, alopecia areata is a common autoimmune skin disease resulting in the loss of hair on the scalp and elsewhere. It affects approximately two percent of the population overall. While it affects both men and women equally, it is diagnosed more often in women, since they are more likely to seek treatment.

Among the eight genes, one stands out for its potential role in the onset of alopecia areata. The gene, called ULBP3, is known to act as a homing beacon for cytotoxic cells that can invade and quickly destroy an organ. Normally, ULBP3 is not present in hair follicles, but the ULBP3 proteins are abundant in hair follicles affected by alopecia areata. The proteins attract cells marked by a killer cell receptor, known as NKG2D. In addition to ULBP3, two other genes are expressed in the hair follicle, while the five remaining genes are involved in the immune response.

Read the rest of this entry »

CNN’s Brian Byrnes explains why Argentina has become a magnet for cosmetic surgery tourism.

In August, James Brandon traveled 5500 miles (8,800 kilometers) south from Toronto to Buenos Aires for liposuction, a nose job and eye lift — all at a fraction of Canadian costs.

“For what I’m getting done probably, it would have cost me about $50,000 dollars back home and here [in Argentina] it’s about $10,000 or $11,000,” he said.

Source: CNN

Oocytes Cryopreserved as good as Fresh Oocytes

On-going pregnancy rates from vitrified eggs as good as those from fresh, finds randomised trial

Rome, Italy – Embryos derived from oocytes (eggs) cryopreserved by the vitrification method are just as likely to produce an on-going pregnancy as those involving fresh oocytes, the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today. Dr. Ana Cobo, Cryobiology Unit director at Institut Universitari – IVI Valencia, Valencia, Spain, told delegates that the results of her team’s research would make egg donation both easier and safer in the future.

The scientists carried out a randomised clinical trial involving 600 recipients of either freshly-harvested oocytes or those preserved by the vitrification method, where oocytes are flash-frozen after the extraction of water, hence avoiding ice formation. Analysis of the results found that the on-going pregnancy rate in women who had received vitrified oocytes was 43.7% as opposed to 41.7% in the fresh oocyte group. The proportion of top-quality embryos was similar between the two groups, and there was also no difference in age or other demographic characteristics and the incidence of male factor infertility.

“Because we were able to show that there were no differences between the two groups before embryo implantation,” said Dr. Cobo, “we can be certain that the on-going pregnancy rates in both groups were not influenced by any factor other than the method of oocyte preservation. Although there has been considerable circumstantial evidence that cryopreservation by the vitrification method produces results as good as those with freshly-harvested oocytes, until this trial there was still a lack of large randomly-controlled studies in the field.”

The researchers say that their results will have a significant effect on the practice of egg-banking in the future. “Many patients will be able to benefit,” said Dr. Cobo. “For example, there are cancer patients who will be able to preserve their fertility before undergoing treatment that can make them sterile, patients who would be at risk of ovarian hyperstimulation, and those where a semen sample is not immediately available.”

Once an egg donor is recruited and screened she undergoes ovarian stimulation to produce a number of oocytes, which are then retrieved. The oocytes then need to be fertilised by the sperm of the male partner of the recipient and the best embryos thus produced are placed in the uterus of the recipient, whose uterine lining has been previously prepared to be ready to receive the embryo.

When using fresh oocytes, the need for synchronisation of all these procedures is paramount, but not always possible. Egg banking precludes the need to synchronise these timings, which can also be the cause of long delays

“As well as being able to shorten or even eliminate the current long waiting lists, egg banking also offers a safer donation process because it allows oocytes to be quarantined while the absence of any contagious disease in the donor is confirmed,” said Dr. Cobo. “Until now we have been unable to do this with any certainty.”

The scientists now intend to continue their research by following up the progress of babies born after oocyte vitrification. “We need to ascertain that there are no adverse effects on children conceived from cryopreserved oocytes,” said Dr. Cobo, “so we will compare obstetric and neonatal data from babies born after oocyte vitrification with those resulting from the replacement of embryos originating from fresh oocytes. Having made sure that the pregnancies are safe, it is important to ensure that pregnancy outcomes are also free from harm.”

Studies show Women’s attitudes to social egg freezing

Studies of women’s attitudes to ‘social egg freezing’ find that young professionals put career ahead of motherhood, while older women are still waiting for Mr. Right

Rome, Italy – Women of different ages differ in their reasons for wishing to undergo egg freezing, show two studies presented to the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Monday). A large number of female university students would be prepared to undertake egg freezing in an attempt to combine career success and motherhood, said Dr. Srilatha Gorthi, a research fellow at the Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Leeds, UK, adding that her team’s research emphasised the importance of educating young women about their biological clocks in order that they could take informed decisions about future reproduction.

Dr. Gorthi surveyed 98 medical students (group A) and 97 students of education and sports studies (group B) from the University of Leeds. Information regarding egg freezing was provided, including the fact that they would have to finance their own egg freezing. The average age was 21 with age range from 18-30 years in both the groups; 63.3% of the medical students were not in a relationship, as opposed to 25.8% in group B, probably reflecting the level of commitment and time needed for their courses.

While 85.7% in group A said that they would be prepared to delay starting a family, only 49.5% in group B said they would consider this. Eight out of ten from group A said they would undergo egg collection and freezing, compared with only half as many (four out of ten) from group B. In group A, 85.3% were prepared to undergo up to three cycles of egg collection to bank enough eggs to give them a realistic chance of pregnancy. In contrast, the majority (79%) of those who would bank their eggs from group B said they would be prepared to undergo only one cycle of egg collection.

“Career considerations were given as the commonest reason to delay starting a family in group A, followed by financial stability and marriage or a stable relationship,” said Dr. Gorthi. “However, in group B, financial stability came first, followed by a stable relationship and then career reasons. We think that this is the first time that young women’s attitudes to egg freezing have been studied in this way.”

Egg freezing is still a relatively new technology; a woman has to go through an IVF treatment cycle, which takes two to four weeks and carries certain risks: ovarian hyperstimulation, haemorrhage, infection and a possible, albeit small, effect on future natural fertility. Read the rest of this entry »

European regulations for cosmetic surgery to be introduced

British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons to Help Set Guidelines

London – After years of calling for tighter controls in cosmetic surgery in Britain, top UK surgeons are delighted to provide key input at a new committee in Brussels, so that Europe-wide standards can finally be introduced in this sector. The President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (baaps.org.uk), the not-for-profit organisation established for the advancement of education and practice of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery for public benefit, has been invited to participate in the creation of these cutting-edge regulations.

The market of aesthetic procedures – known generally as cosmetic surgery, though it involves non-surgical treatments – has increased dramatically over the last years, including through the recession. The growing availability of travel, the Web and numerous financial payment facilities also mean that medical tourism in this area has also become a reality.

The CEN – the European Committee for Standardisation – has recently accepted the proposal from the Austrian Standards Institute (ASI) to create a new Project Committee, CEN/TC 403 “Project Committee- Aesthetic surgery services”, the aim of which is to elaborate European standards for aesthetic surgery services.  Other organisations involved include in this project include the Care Quality Commission, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.