Any of you who have been following this blog knows of my interest in Adult Stem Cells derived from fat tissue.  Adipose Stem Sells are an abundant source of mescenchymal stem cells (MSC’s), and provide tremendous promise for many types of injury and diseases. For the past 4 years I have been on an amazing journey that has brought me in contact with brilliant scientists all over the world, taught me new skills, and opened a world of wonder in my profession of Plastic Surgery.

Yesterday, together with Jeff Bulte, PhD (Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) and others from University of Maryland, I was awarded one of the 2013 Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) Grants. Our team will investigate the location, longevity, and fate of labeled adipose stem cells once we have injected them into breast tissue damaged by radiation. >> Continue reading Dr. Rodriguez of CosmeticSurg Awarded 2013 Maryland Stem Cell Grant

For the best results following any plastic surgery procedure it’s important to choose your board certified surgeon carefully, discuss your goals and options very specifically, and follow your surgeons post-op instructions completely.

Not wearing your compression garment after surgery might not seem like a big deal, but in fact, it is very important to your surgical result! I ask all of my patients to wear a compression garment after their liposuction and/or tummy tuck surgery. Here’s why… >> Continue reading Compression Garments for Liposuction and Tummy Tuck

In 2007, I wrote a blog post about Hydrogel for Buttock Augmentation. In the post I detailed my reasons why I did not think it was a good idea to do a Buttock Augmentation or Butt Lift with Hydrogel. The only thing that has changed since I wrote that post is that I have seen many patients who have suffered terrible damage from Hydrogel injections! My position remains the same: Hydrogel to buttocks: Don’t do it! To recap…. >> Continue reading Hydrogel Injections to the Buttocks- Don't do it!

The Mommy Makeover is a combination of cosmetic surgery procedures done at the same time to address the changes in the body after pregnancy. Each Mommy Makeover is customized to your concerns. However, the Mommy Makeover should address 3 main issues, which concern the breast , stomach, and upper body changes. >> Continue reading What does the Mommy Makeover do?

Patients today are doing a lot of research about the upper Lip Lift, so one of the most frequent questions I get is if I work with the muscle of the upper lip. Patients want to know if my technique involves only the skin, or if I lift the muscle in any way. My Lip Lift technique involves lifting the skin only, and I do not involve the muscle.

It seems one of the biggest proponents of technique incorporating the muscle is Dr. Randall Heyworth in California. In 2008, he and I met on a trip to China representing the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and I enjoyed his company. But I have a different approach to the upper lip lift and I will explain why. >> Continue reading Lip Lift Technique: Lifting Skin Only vs Muscle

Recovery after a Tummy Tuck has to balance two things: the need to get your body going as quickly as possible versus the need to keep things quiet until your body has a chance to heal well.

In the past, patients were told to stay very still for a long time, but that created complications such as blog clots in the legs and problems with the lungs. Nowadays patients are encouraged to get moving much sooner, but that can have its own set of problems such as wound separations and infections.

Like most things in life, the answer is somewhere in the middle. Here is how we advise our own patients who have surgery in our Baltimore surgery center, and we hope you find it helpful. >> Continue reading How long is the Tummy Tuck Recovery?

Very often a patient will ask me ” How much fat do you take out during Liposuction?”. The answer is dependent on two things:

1. liposuction area
2. patient height and weight

Therefore, to answer the question, I will give my answers for a body frame type that I see most frequently. We’ll use as an example a woman of average height (5’3”-5’6”) who weighs about 150 pounds. >> Continue reading How much fat is taken out during Liposuction?

Fat Grafts have a naturally occurring small population of Adipose Stem Cells, and we are currently using them to help heal scars. Adipose tissue can be extracted from unwanted areas of your body, processed to remove the mature and dead cells, and then reinjected as a fat graft. The Adipose Stem Cells in a fat graft help to heal the scar in several ways.

First, the stem cells have anti-inflammatory properties that prevent excessive scarring. Second, they help replenish normal cells in the tissue by differentiation or directing other cells in the tissue to multiply. Since the normal population of cells under the skin is fat tissue anyways, the fat graft itself provides most of the tissue that is needed. >> Continue reading Can Adipose Stem Cells Heal Scars?

This year marked the 10th anniversary of IFATS, the International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science, an organization which includes scientists and Medical Doctors from a wide range of specialties. The conference was held in Quebec, Canada and included over 100 abstracts, most of which focused on on Adipose Stem Cells. Abstracts and keynotes were presented form three categories of research: basic science, translational science, and clinical research. There were many exciting findings, but here’s a summary of highlights we found most interesting. >> Continue reading IFATS 2012 Conference: All about Adipose Stem Cells

While the decision to augment your breast is usually an easy one, the decision to have a Breast Lift with Implants is not always so obvious.

To help you better think this through, I have come up with some questions that you should think about. These questions should help you decide IF you need a lift with your Breast Augmentation. >> Continue reading Should I have my Breast Augmentation with or without a Lift?

I get this question asked often, “How do I get a lift in the Brazilian Butt Lift?”. The patient will then push her own buttock up to help me understand what she wants. They ask me, “Can you do it?” I have answered this so often, it is time to write about it here on our blog.

How do I get a lift in the Brazilian Butt Lift?

The Brazilian Butt Lift is a type of Butt Augmentation performed with your own Fat injections. As a matter of fact, in this procedure the butt is physically lifted very little, if at all. But after a Brazilian Butt Lift, the buttock definitely looks perky, and definitely looks lifted! Let me explain… >> Continue reading How Do You Get a Lift in a Brazilian Butt Lift?

It’s been over two months since I updated my database of Adipose Stem Cell Clinical Trials. I am tracking registered Clinical Trials in the ClinicalTrials.gov database. A lot has happened in only two months! Eight new Clinical Trials have been registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov database since June 1, 2012. This brings the all time total of Adipose Stem Cell Clinical Trials to 62.

Adipose Stem Cells are currently being used in Clinical Trials to treat and cure a wide range of diseases. My original project summary detailed the conditions under study. Conditions include Arthritis, Autism, Crohn’s, Fistula, Kidney, MS, Pulmonary, Diabetes, Cardiac, Neuro, Orthopedic, Reconstructive, and others.

Since June, the conditions with the highest number of new registered Clinical Trials using Adipose Stem Cells included the Brain and Orthopedic conditions. Other conditions in the newly registerd studies include Fistula, Heart, Neuro, and Pain.

All of the new trials are using autologous Adipose Stem Cells, except for the trials studying Brain conditions. Clinical Trials to study Brain conditions are using both autologous and allogeneic Adipose Stem Cells (ASC’s). In Taiwan researchers are studying Severe Brain Injury with autologous ASC’s, but using allogeneic ASC’s to treat Cerebellar Ataxia. Autologous stem cells are your own stem cells, and allogeneic stem cells are from another person. >> Continue reading Adipose Stem Cell Clinical Trial Update- August 2012 (part 4)

Many patients are afraid of the tummy tuck procedure because they have seen friends’ scars or pictures of scars on the Internet and they think such scars are unavoidable. Still others, including Hispanic, Orientals, or African Americans think they are bound to get thick scars simply based on their racial background. This is just not so. Thick or unsightly scars following abdominoplasty can be easily avoided. >> Continue reading Avoiding Thick Tummy Tuck Scars

Spain…..Soccer World Superstar. But what about Stem Cells?!

If there was a World Cup for Stem Cells, Spain would get that too! While Spain is the world leader of Soccer, they are also the dominant player in a new arena of Stem Cell Research. According to information publicly available at ClinicalTrials.gov, Spain is the leader in Clinical Trials using Adipose Stem Cells.  And just like Soccer, compared to other countries, it’s not even close!

Adipose Stem Cell Clinical Trial Leaders

As of early June 2012, Spain has registered at least 18  different Clinical Trial locations using Adipose Stem Cells. Mexico and  Korea are next with 11 and 10 trials respectively. And what of the great USA, the hot bed of medical innovation? We have a grand total of 3 trials .   We pose the question: Has any U.S. money gone to funding these overseas trials? Have any of these trials been funded by U.S. charitable organizations, institutions, or American Venture Capital?   While we are happy to see the sector forward *anywhere*, it is somewhat disappointing that U.S. patients have such a limited access to these promising new therapies. We welcome your thoughts on this. >> Continue reading Adipose Stem Cell Clinical Trials by Country-- Spain dominates (part 3)

Most breast augmentation patients are very focused on breast implant size. While that is important, it is only one of the 8 decisions you need to make before having a breast augmentation procedure. I think that the choice of implant incision location is a very important decision that you should discuss with your plastic surgeon in your pre-operative appointment.

In my own Baltimore practice, I always discuss the choice of incision location with patients before the procedure. The incision location is where the breast implant is inserted. Therefore, it is the location where you will have a small scar. In most cases, the scar is barely noticeable, but in any event you should KNOW where your implants will be inserted. >> Continue reading Breast Augmentation: Where do Breast Implants get Inserted?