The use of adipose stem cells in cranial facial surgery

Craniofacial malformations, have devastating psychosocial implications for many adults and children and causes huge socioeconomic burden. Currently craniofacial defects require soft tissue transfer, bone grafting techniques or difficult procedures such as microvascular free flaps. Such tissues are often limited in quantity, their harvest causes secondary large donor site defects and they lack the capability to fully restore previous form and function. Stem cell technology is being utilised for various tissue and organs of the body and consequently surgeons are eager to transfer these principles for craniofacial surgery. Adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) are an exciting stem cell source for craniofacial surgeons due to their easy and painless isolation, relatively large abundance and familiarity with the harvesting procedure. ADSCs also have multiple desirable properties including adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic potential, enhancement of angiogenesis and immunodulatory function. Due to these advantageous characteristics, ASDCs have been explored to repair craniofacial bone, soft tissue and cartilage. The desirable characteristics of ADSCs for craniofacial surgical applications will be explained. We report the experimental and clinical studies that have explored the use of ADSCs for bone, cartilage and soft tissue craniofacial defects. We conclude by establishing the key questions that are preventing the clinical application of ADSCs for craniofacial surgery.