Shinya Okada

Comparison of fat tissues used in intracordal autologous fat injection

CONCLUSIONS The buccal fat pad appears to be more useful as a source of fat tissues in intracordal fat injection than the abdominal fat tissues used previously. However, further studies are required to confirm this point. OBJECTIVES Fat tissues used in vocal fold augmentation surgery have primarily been harvested from the subcutaneous region of the lower abdomen. It is often difficult to obtain sufficient fat tissue for injection due to the physical features of the individual patient. We have thus adopted a method using fat tissue from the buccal fat pad, which is already used in other plastic surgeries. METHODS This was a retrospective study. We evaluated and compared the histological characteristics of fat cells and the condition of vocal folds after injection of fat tissue extracted from the subcutaneous region of the lower abdomen and from the buccal fat pad. RESULTS Buccal fat cells were relatively smaller than abdominal fat cells and were not influenced by body mass index (BMI), showing less individual differences according to the physical features of the patient. Numbers of vascular endothelial cells tended to be higher in buccal fat tissues. The percentage of cases showing continuous effects for more than 6 months was slightly higher in cases using buccal fat.

Autologous fat augmentation of the vocal fold with basic fibroblast growth factor: Computed tomographic assessment of fat tissue survival after augmentation

Abstract Conclusion: The volume of fat tissue loss after vocal fold augmentation can be decreased when augmentation is performed with addition of basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF). Objectives: The effectiveness of augmentation is easily decreased due to absorption. Canine experiments have confirmed that the decreased effectiveness caused by absorption after augmentation can be reduced by administering low-concentration b-FGF. Clinical application was trialed after acquiring approval from the institutional clinical review committee. Method: Autologous fat tissue with b-FGF was injected into the vocal folds in cases of unilateral vocal cord paralysis. This study compared fat tissue survival after injection by assessing images from computed tomography (CT). Results: Assessments using CT revealed that the decrease in volume of injected fat tissue was smaller in cases treated using b-FGF than in cases using the conventional method. No severe complications were encountered using this method.