Helium Plasma Effect on Breast Stromal-Enriched Lipograft: A Case Report

Area of Science:

• Regenerative Medicine
• Plastic Surgery
• Biomaterials Science

Background:

• Autologous fat transfer is increasingly used for cosmetic and reconstructive breast augmentation.
• Graft retention and predictability remain challenges in fat grafting procedures.
• Current techniques aim to improve fat graft survival through donor fat processing or recipient site preparation.

Observation:

• This study reports the first clinical use of radiofrequency helium plasma recipient site pretreatment combined with cell-assisted lipotransfer for breast augmentation.
• A single patient received stromal-enriched lipograft for augmentation, with the right breast pretreated with radiofrequency helium plasma.
• Graft volume was monitored for 2 years using breast MRI.

Findings:

• Stromal-enriched lipograft alone resulted in 63% fat graft survival after 12 months.
• Combining stromal-enriched lipograft with radiofrequency helium plasma pretreatment increased survival to 89%.
• Biostimulatory recipient site preparation significantly enhanced fat graft retention.

Implications:

• Radiofrequency helium plasma pretreatment shows promise for improving fat graft retention in autologous fat transfer.
• This technique may lead to more predictable outcomes in breast augmentation and reconstructive surgery.
• Further clinical trials are needed to validate radiofrequency helium plasma as a standard recipient site preparation method.