Sunday, May 29, 2011

Remember on Memorial Day

Dr. Robert Brueck MD, a board certified cosmetic surgeon in Fort Myers and Cape Coral, regularly blogs here about subjects related to his practice. Today's message is about respect for Memorial Day and those who have sacrificed to keep us free.

People wish me a "happy" Memorial Day.

I have no problem with that because I believe they mean have a happy Memorial Day "weekend".
I agree that a few days off from work should be a time to celebrate. But I like to remind people that Memorial Day exists for a more somber purpose.

We should take a break in the fun to recognize those who risk their lives and those who have lost their lives and limbs, and the families who have sacrificed with them. Let's stop long enough to reflect on the dedication of these heroes, and the gift of freedom they have preserved for us.


Then, let the games begin. Play on. Have a truly happy Memorial Day Weekend.

You deserve it.

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Where did the Fat go? Answers from Dr. Brueck MD

Dr. Robert J. Brueck, a Board Certified Plastic surgeon in Fort Myers, comments on news about liposuction.

When someone comes in for a liposuction consult I am often asked, "Will the fat go somewhere else?

My usual response was, "No. It’s gone, never to return." But a recent study may call into question that response.

Researchers at the University of Colorado in Denver did a randomized controlled trial of liposuction in 32 non-obese, healthy women. These women had several areas of body fat measured in circumference. After all the patients were measured, they were assigned to one of two groups. One group of 14 women had small volume liposuction performed. The other group had lipo after the study was complete.

Measurements were taken at 6 weeks, 6 months and at one year. To everyone’s surprise, the thigh area remained reduced however the abdominal area grew in size. More studies need to be done. But it is food for thought.

I know, in my clinical experience, this has not been the case, but then again, I don’t do detailed measurements post-lipo. I have yet to have a patient tell me, "You know my hips are better but my belly is bigger."

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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Autologous fat grafting for breast augs

Dr. Robert Brueck MD is a regular blogger here on subjects of health and plastic surgery. He also appears on his Fort Myers Plastic Surgery website at Beauty-by-Brueck.com

I think one of the newest emerging trends in plastic surgery is autologous (your own) fat grafting with stem cells.

Recently I attended a cosmetic surgery symposium on the use of ones own body fat to augment the breast. The results presented were truly quite remarkable. But being the old stage through 32 years of experience that I have. I realize they will present their best cases and they were quite remarkable. Do I think this will supplant or replace standard breast augmentation? No, for one thing the patient has to have enough extra body fat to use as donor sites. Secondly it is very costly i.e. maybe $6-$8,000.00 per session and a person may require 2 or 3 sessions to get to size they want. So cost is a big consideration.

Another concern has to do with micro calcifications which can occur when some of the fat doesn’t survive and under goes dissolution. These “micro calcifications” can be suspicious for breast cancer. A recent report from a hospital in Beijing studied 48 women over a 10 year span 1999-2009 who had autologous fat grafts to their breasts. In eight women, micro calcifications developed that were regarded as “highly suspicious.” This led to biopsies, but none revealed breast cancer. This can be very troubling to anyone.

So doubt remains-questions linger. Right now it may be best to sit on the sidelines until more is known.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Man Awarded $212 after Botox treatments

Another blog entry from Dr. Robert Brueck MD, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Fort Myers.
He reports periodically on matters pertaining to health and plastic surgery.

WOW $212 MILLION

Now that’s a lot of money - a whole lot of money. You knew it was just a matter of time before someone would sue and potentially open the flood gates of litigation concerning Botox.

The lawyers for 67 years Douglas Ray Jr. claimed Botox caused severe brain damage to their client. Mr. Ray had received Botox treatments for hand tremors and writers cramps. He claims that the Botox injections left him disabled almost totally, and have cost him 650,000 in medical bills. Allergan says Mr. Ray was apprised of the potential risks. Mr. Ray was diagnosed with CADASIL (it’s a long one- Cerebral autosomal dominant Arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy - I won’t even begin to explain it!) This is a genetic stroke condition Mr. Ray inherited long before he received Botox. So here we go again - the chicken and the egg. Allergan is considering an appeal, at $212 million, I think I would too.

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Silicone Breast Implants & MRI

Dr. Robert Brueck MD, Fort Myers Plastic Surgeon, keeps abreast of developments and questions in Cosmetic Surgery. He periodically blogs here about items in the news.

Many of my patients who have had silicone implants will often inquire about weather or not they need MRI.

The FDA made it one of their recommendations several years ago when they allowed silicone implants back on the market. I personally have not been overly impressed with the accuracy of MRI in detecting implant rupture.

I have gone to the OR with patients who had an MRI saying they were ruptured only to find the implant intact. Conversely I have had patients with normal mammograms and/or MRI who came in for implant exchange and when we go to the OR, I find both implants are ruptured.

It was found that women who were symptomatic, i.e. maLinkybe in discomfort, that MRI was more accurate in detecting problems with the implant verses women with NO symptoms.

Another very important point: most of the ruptures were found in women with implants that were greater than 10 years old. This has been my experience when a patient comes in to see me who’s implants are 15, 20 or even 30 years of old I almost know with near 100% accuracy that one or both maybe leaking or completely ruptured.

So the benefit of MRI screening is questionable.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

More plastic surgery patient comments - Dr. Brueck, Fort Myers

From time to time we receive comments from our plastic surgery patients in Fort Myers. We are happy to share them with you and other readers of this blog and Dr. Brueck's website.


Here are two from April.

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“Pam was excellent! My anesthesia person (Judy) was awesome! I adore Dr. Brueck. Everybody was so helpful. I felt like I was the only person in the world to them at that very moment and that's a great feeling.”

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“My experience there was absolutely fabulous! Your staff are the most wonderful, nicest, caring people. Dr. Brueck is superb! You're (sic) staff really cares about your people in the way they talk and act – it's just wonderful! I will recommend you to everyone.”

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