The "Boob Jab" – Macrolane for breast augmentation?

Macrolane is an injectable hyaluronic gel product from Q-Med, the makers of Restylane, which is available in Europe, but not in North America yet. Over there, Macrolane has been tried for body contouring applications, including breast augmentation – hence the catch-phrase “boob jab” for an injection of Macrolane to the breast.
In this month’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery online is a preliminary publication (ahead of print) of a study from Sweden, looking at a 12 month study of 24 women who had Macrolane VRF30 injected into their breasts for cosmetic augmentation purposes. (Click here for abstract)
Twenty-four women (average age = 37 years) were treated. The Macrolane VRF30 gel, up to 100 cc per side, was injected in the subglandular position with the aid of local anesthesia. Since Macrolane is slowly absorbed by the body, it was fully expected that the results would change over time: at six months post-injection, 83% were pleased with the improvement, and at 12 months, 69% were still considered improved.
While there were no major complications or systemic issues, capsular contracture around the injected material was still the most commonly reported adverse effect, with 25% of patients reporting undesirable breast firmness due to this problem.
The authors concluded that this gel is worthy of further study, and may be an option for patients that want non-surgical improvement of breast volume. Personally, I find the reported 25% incidence of capsular contracture to be a lot higher than I would like to see.
Speaking of HA gels, I’ve often wondered: why not make a breast implant that is filled with a hyaluronic gel, instead of saline or silicone? Might give the feel of a silicone gel implant, but be easy to clean up in case of deflation. Hmmm…..You read it here first, at PSB!
Happy Halloween!!