This Abstract is actually to be considered for HOT TOPICS. (I could not find the appropriate link for it in the CATEGORY section)
Goals/Purpose: The use of adipose tissue as a soft-tissue filler has shown to be attractive because it is readily available, inexpensive, host compatible and has been identified as an abundant source of mesenchymal stem cells. Unfortunately in practice, fat transplantation often has unreliable long term results mostly due to tissue resorption and volume loss. To this day, there is no agreement as to the best way of processing the fat to ensure maximum take and viability of the graft. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of the three most common fat processing techniques used in plastic surgery, on the viability and number of cellular components of aspirated adipose tissue in order to determine a method that can yield higher concentrations of viable adipocytes and mesenchymal stem cells.
Methods/Technique: Fat harvested manually from the lower abdomen of twenty female patients undergoing liposuction, was divided and processed by decantation, washing and centrifugation. Each processed sample was analyzed by histological techniques after PAS staining for adipocyte count and morphology and was submitted to mechanical dissociation for analysis by multicolor flow cytometry and culture for identification of adipose-derived stem cells.
Results/Complications: Intact nucleated adipocyte count was significantly greater in decanted lipoaspirates, where centrifuged samples showed a great majority of altered adipocytes. Quantification by flow cytometry of endothelial and mesenchymal stromal cells showed a great loss in the middle layer of centrifuged lipoaspirates (used for grafting) as compared to washed lipoaspirates. However the pellet collected at the bottom of the centrifuged samples showed the highest concentration.
Conclusion: In our comparative study, washing seemed to be the best processing technique for aspirated adipose tissue when needed for grafting as it maintains the quantity, integrity and viability of the adipocytes, endothelial cells and mesenchymal stem cells. However when centrifugation is used, the pellet which is the richest in MSCs need be incorporated to the middle layer of the centrifuged lipoaspirate in order to increase the number of ADSCs proven to favor angiogenesis and better graft take.