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The use of polymethyl-methacrylate (Artecoll) as an adjunct to facial reconstruction
1Division of Plastic Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec.
Background:
Injectable polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) microspheres, or Artecoll, has been used for the last few years in aesthetic surgery as long-term tissue filler for the correction of wrinkles and for lip augmentation. This paper presents three cases of the use of PMMA microsphere injection for reconstructive patients with defects of varying etiologies. These cases provide examples of a novel adjunct to the repertoire of the reconstructive surgeon.
Objectives:
To evaluate the effectiveness (short- and long-term) of PMMA injection for the correction of small soft tissue defects of the face.
Methods:
Three case histories are presented. They include the origin of the defect; previous reconstructions of the defect; and area, volume, timing and technical particularities of PMMA administration.
Results:
All three cases showed improvement of the defect with the PMMA injection with respect to both objective evidence and patient satisfaction. The improvements can still be seen after several years.
Conclusions:
PMMA microsphere injection can be effectively used to correct selected small facial defects in reconstructive cases and the results are long lasting.
