Why can breast fat transplant be fatal?

 A 61-year-old woman has just died after having plastic surgery at Saigon KangNam Hospital. This person is said to have had breast fat grafting.

On April 19, Ms. L. (61 years old) went to Saigon Kangnam Aesthetic Hospital (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) for a pre-surgery health check. On the morning of April 20, the patient was admitted to the hospital for breast augmentation with a method that is believed to be breast fat implantation.

Around 11am, the patient showed signs of shortness of breath and received medical assistance. The cosmetic hospital contacted Cho Ray Hospital. Ms. L. was placed ECMO in place and transferred to Cho Ray Hospital for further treatment. However, by the afternoon of the same day, she died.

KangNam Hospital in Saigon is currently suspending plastic surgery operations until the conclusion of the investigation agency.

According to Ho Chi Minh City estheticians, fat grafting is not recommended to beautify the first round due to the risks that may be encountered.

Liposuction is applied to fill in cheek grooves, sunken temples, sunken cheeks, wrinkles...

Assoc. Prof. TS.BS Do Quang Hung, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City Plastic Surgery Association, said that autologous fat grafting is often applied to the face area, requiring little fat.

This is a method of sucking excess fat cells in some parts of the body such as thighs, abdomen, arms... to transplant to another part. Often used to fill concave areas, gaps on the body.

The doctor will use a specialized syringe to suck up a moderate amount of fat. Then, using centrifugation technique to separate plasma and blood, keeping pure fat. Continue to insert fat into the part to be filled.

After numbing the area to be filled, the doctor makes a small incision and uses a specialized fat needle to inject fat into the right position.

However, this method is considered by experts to be applied only in small areas such as eye grooves, temporal pits, wrinkles, sunken cheeks ...

According to PGS Hung, with a large amount of fat, there is a risk that it can be injected into a blood vessel to cause an embolism. This complication progresses very quickly, creating a fat lump that moves in the vessel causing deep embolism, moving to the lungs causing pulmonary embolism. In the worst case, the patient can die.

Worth mentioning, both liposuction and liposuction can face the above risk. “Warnings of the US plastic surgery industry in 2020, 2021, 2022 all emphasize that fat should not be implanted in the buttocks and chest area because it can cause deep vein embolism, cerebral embolism. Cosmetology industry must regularly update world knowledge! In Ho Chi Minh City, we also do not advise customers to implant breast or buttock fat, "said Associate Professor Hung.

Breast fat grafting method is advertised by many cosmetic facilities.

He shared, currently, liposuction and fat grafting in the chest area are now viewed by many cosmetic establishments as very simple. "But things are not so simple!"

A Ho Chi Minh City cosmetologist shared that autologous fat transplantation is not applicable to people with severe blood clotting disorders, taking anticoagulants, or having blood diseases. In addition, it is necessary to be careful with people with diabetes, cardiovascular disease ....

"Patients must be fully examined, tested and evaluated to rule out risks and ensure safety for the new surgery."

Before the medical incident at KangNam Cosmetic Hospital in Saigon on April 20, a woman also died after breast augmentation at 1A Hospital (Tan Binh District) on March 18. During the surgery to place the chest bag, the patient suddenly had pneumothorax, then stopped the respiratory circulation.

In 2021, also in Tan Binh district, a woman who had liposuction at Gangwhoo Plastic Surgery Hospital later died. The expert council of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health concluded that the patient died from septic shock, fulminant multi-organ failure due to necrotizing fasciitis of the abdominal wall. Patients with obesity, hypertension, cannot determine the exact cause of death due to lack of autopsy results.