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The viability of autologous fat grafts harvested with the LipiVage system: a comparative study.

Ferguson RE, Cui X, Fink BF, Vasconez HC, Pu LL

Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.

This study evaluates the viability of adipose aspirates harvested with the LipiVage system (Genesis Biosystems Inc, Lewisville, TX), a newly developed fat harvesting device, and determines a potentially preferred method for possible large-quantity fat graft harvesting. Adipose aspirates were harvested with the LipiVage system from the abdomen of 16 female patients (group 1, n = 8) according to the instruction by the manufacturer and with conventional liposuction (group 2, n = 8). Samples from conventional liposuction were spun at 50 g for 10 minutes and the resulting middle layer of fat was collected. All fat graft samples were evaluated with trypan blue vital staining for viable adipocyte count, glycerol-3-phosphatase dehydrogenase (G3PDH) assay for intracellular enzyme activity, and histology. In this study, group 1 had significantly higher viable adipocyte count than group 2 had (3.7 +/- 0.64 versus 2.37 +/- 0.56 x 10(6) /mL, P = 0.0021). G3PDH assay showed a marked increase of intracellular enzyme activity in group 1 compared with in group 2 (0.61 +/- 0.10 versus 0.34 +/- 0.13 U/mL, P = 0.00045). Histology revealed normal structures of fragmental fatty tissues in both groups. While adipose aspirates by both modalities maintain normal structure, the LipiVage system yields a greater number of viable adipocytes and sustains a higher level of intracellular enzyme activity within fat grafts and can potentially be a preferred method of choice for large-quantity fat graft harvesting.

Published 24 April 2008 in Ann Plast Surg, 60(5): 594-7.
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