Infraorbital Hyaluronic Acid Filler: Common Aesthetic Side Effects with Treatment and Prevention Options

Background Infraorbital hollows can give a fatigued or aged appearance which can be treated by volumizing the segmented transition from the tear trough to the cheek with hyaluronic acid filler. Due to thin skin and the complex anatomy of the infraorbital area, both short- and long-term side effects from this treatment are very common. While some patients are clear surgical candidates vs. filler candidates, in real-world practice, many, if not most patients are on a continuum where either procedure is appropriate, and the treatment decision is individualized based on each person’s risk vs. benefit profile. Objectives Common aesthetic side effects from hyaluronic acid filler treatment in the infraorbital area will be reviewed, including their etiology, prevention, detection, and treatment. Method The authors’ experience from injecting the infraorbital areas of more than 800 patients in private clinical practice and observations from both short and long-term follow ups over eight years is leveraged to provide detailed guidance. Results Recommendations on injection techniques, patient selection, and patient education are presented along with algorithms for the prevention and management of bruising, short- and long-term swelling, bumps, and blue discoloration (which is usually secondary to swelling from the filler rather than just the filler alone placed or migrating too superficially). Conclusion For nearly all patients, complete dissolution of filler with hyaluronidase is not required to address the issue, and the guidelines provided here will assist clinicians in management of side effects to increase patient satisfaction with their treatment and aesthetic outcome.

Comparison of a Novel Silicone Gel Wound Dressing versus Bacitracin after Follicular Unit Extraction Hair Transplantation

Background Follicular unit extraction (FUE) hair transplantation subjects are excellent candidates to assess wound dressings. The wound surface area is large and adequately delineated to allow randomization, while in-patient split scalp designs allow patients to serve as their own controls. Objectives This randomized, single-blinded, split-scalp comparison trial compares a novel, film-forming silicone gel-- Stratamed (Stratpharma AG, Basel, Switzerland) -- to Bacitracin (McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc., Richmond, VA) in subjects undergoing FUE. Methods Twenty subjects were randomized to receive Stratamed and Bacitracin on alternating sides of the scalp. Primary outcome measures included blinded clinician assessments of edema, erythema, crusting, healing response and outcome preference. Secondary measures included subject-reported assessments of pain and pruritis as well as FaceQ scores taken at post-FUE days two through six. Results Twenty subjects were enrolled. Nineteen completed the trial. All subjects were non-smokers, and none had medical comorbidities expected to impact wound healing. An average of 1778 follicles per subject were harvested. No adverse events were reported, and all subjects healed by day 7. Healing response and outcome preference were significantly higher at day 1 in the Stratamed group and by day 7, both groups were similar. There were no significant differences between groups for edema, erythema, or crusting. There were no significant differences between groups for subject-reported outcomes of pain, pruritis, or FACE-Q scores. When asked which product they preferred using, 44% of subjects preferred using Stratamed versus 22% who preferred Bacitracin. Conclusions The Stratamed wound dressing was well-tolerated in patients undergoing FUE. Stratamed may speed the healing response in the early phase of wound healing.

BreastGAN: Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Breast Augmentation Simulation

Background Managing patient expectations is important to ensuring patient satisfaction in aesthetic medicine. To this end, computer technology developed to photograph, digitize, and manipulate three-dimensional (3D) objects has been applied to the female breast. However, the systems remain complex, physically cumbersome, and extremely expensive. Objectives The authors of the current study wish to introduce the plastic surgery community to BreastGAN, a portable, artificial intelligence-equipped tool trained on real clinical images to simulate breast augmentation outcomes. Methods Charts of all patients who underwent bilateral breast augmentation performed by the senior author were retrieved and analyzed. Frontal before and after images were collected from each patient’s chart, cropped in a standardized fashion, and used to train a neural network designed to manipulate before images to simulate a surgical result. AI-generated frontal after images were then compared to the real surgical results. Results Standardizing the evaluation of surgical results is a timeless challenge which persists in the context of AI-synthesized after images. In this study, AI-generated images were comparable to real surgical results. Conclusions This study features a portable, cost-effective neural network trained on real clinical images and designed to simulate surgical results following bilateral breast augmentation. Tools trained on a larger dataset of standardized surgical image pairs will be the subject of future studies.

Current and Future Photography Techniques in Aesthetic Surgery

Background The rapidly increasing modalities and mediums of clinical photography, use of 3D and 4D patient modeling, and widening implementation of cloud-based storage and artificial intelligence call for an overview of various methods currently in use as well as future considerations in the field. Objectives Through a close look at the methods used in aesthetic surgery photography, clinicians will be able to select the modality best suited to their practice and goals. Methods Review and discussion of current data pertaining to: 2D and 3D clinical photography, current photography software, augmented reality reconstruction, artificial intelligence photography, and cloud-based storage. Results Important considerations for current image capture include a device with a gridded viewing screen and high megapixel resolution, a tripod with leveling base, studio lighting with dual-sourced light, standardized matte finish background, and consistency in patient orientation. Currently, 3D and 4D photography devices offer advantages such as improved communication to the patient on outcome expectation and better quality of patient service and safety. Artificial intelligence may contribute to post-capture processing and 3D printing of post-operative outcomes. Current smartphones distort patient perceptions about their appearance and should be used cautiously in an aesthetic surgery setting. Cloud-based storage provides flexibility, cost, and ease of service while remaining vulnerable to data breaches. Conclusions While there are advancements to be made in the physical equipment and preparation for the photograph, the future of clinical photography will be heavily influenced by innovations in software and 3D and 4D modeling of outcomes.

Public Perception of Ideal Breast Shape

Background In the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in trends related to body-shaping procedures. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, nearly 300,000 breast augmentation procedures were conducted in 2019. 1 Learning the ideal shape of a breast, and which esthetics lead to public perception of the most attractive breast is beneficial to properly performing these procedures. Objectives The authors aimed to quantify public perception of the attraction to breast shape by measuring public opinion for various esthetic elements of breast anatomy, and linking this to various demographic factors. Methods Survey responses were collected from 1,000 users of Amazon Mechanical Turk to collect demographic data as well as ask users to rank preferences for randomized image panels of breast proportions. Responses were collected and analyzed to find the overall ideal breast proportions. Results In total, 1000 responses were collected, with 960 being used for analysis. Overall, a majority of respondents were male (60%), with a plurality belonging to the age group of 25-34 years old (49.3%). The most notable preference between all groups was the breast projection proportion and the preferred nipple direction, with preferences of 1.0 and a frontal nipple direction, respectively. Breast width to shoulder width ratio also had a clear preference among the crowd, with 105% being the preferred percentage, and the 25-34 age group having a very strong preference for this. Conclusions The authors used a crowdsourcing survey technique with randomized image panels to analyze ideal breast preference using images of various anatomical traits of the female breast. It was concluded that crowdsourcing can be a favorable technique for learning ideal overall preferences for specific anatomy.