REGENERATIVE MEDICINE IN MEDICINE AND COSMETIC SURGERY – dentrocasa magazine, March 2014

Regenerative medicine is based on the therapeutic potentials inherent in the human body. Each tissue has undifferentiated cell lines that can potentially repair damage and some cells contain growth factors that can contribute to the regeneration of damaged areas.
Frequently, inappropriately and tendentiously, reference is made to the use of stem cells in medicine, committing an error: in fact, the clinical use of stem cell lines is not provided for by law  in the countries of the European Union. It is possible instead to use cell precursors that are not yet completely differentiated but able to replicate and mature to constitute a healthy tissue.
For clinical purposes, today it is possible to collect adipose tissue to isolate the cellular elements of a smaller diameter or rich in preadipocytes to re-implant them and repair damaged areas of subcutaneous tissue or adipose tissue. It is possible to fill depressions in the vicinity of traumas or areas of deficit in the breast in outcomes of surgery or, with the sole aesthetic purpose, for the increase in volume of breasts, buttocks or cheekbones.
Today, we have a certified system to isolate cellular elements from any tissue (skin, adipose tissue, muscle, bone, cartilage) with a diameter of less than 50 microns and therefore rich in immature cell lines to stimulate the repair of the affected tissue. It is actually possible to stimulate the osseointegration of orthopaedic or dental implants or to enrich autologous adipose grafts during lipofilling or to simply stimulate the regeneration of a damaged tissue. Without false hopes, let’s imagine how innovative it could be to regenerate an infarcted myocardium in the near future.
In daily plastic surgery practice, the growth factors contained in the platelets are already exploited according to a technique known as PRP to stimulate the repair of damaged skin tissues.
Recently, an important scientific publication announced the results of a Danish study that brings hope for the future with the resounding possibility of revolutionising the logic of breast surgery or reconstructions in the case of deformities resulting from severe trauma.