Orange County AlloDerm doctors

	Lavinia Chong, MD Orange County Plastic Surgeon 1401 Avocado Ave Ste 803, Newport Medical Plaza, Newport Beach		4 answers
	Hisham Seify, MD, PhD Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon 20072 SW Birch St Suite 110, Newport Beach		3 answers
	Dan Mills, MD Orange County Plastic Surgeon 31852 Pacific Coast Hwy Suite 401 , Laguna Beach		1 answer
	Farbod Esmailian, MD Orange County Plastic Surgeon 10861 Cherry Street Suite 108, Los Alamitos		1 answer
	Paul E. Chasan, MD San Diego Plastic Surgeon 1431 Camino Del Mar , Del Mar

Recent Answers

AlloDerm Vs Strattice in Terms of Rejection Rate? Hello Doctors. What is your opinion on the use of Alloderm or Strattice? What are the pros and cons of each product? And its rejection rates when compared to each other?

A: Alloderm and Strattice are comparable and unlikely to cause rejection.

Alloderm and Strattice are products of LifeCell corporation and are acellular cadaveric (human or porcine) dermal grafts. I have used Alloderm since 1995, first in burn reconstruction, then head and neck reconstruction, during my residency. I used it briefly as a lip implant, however its most popular use is in breast cancer reconstruction where it is employed as an "inferolateral" sling to keep the breast implant or tissue expander in position as well as to "buttress" or thicken the lower part of the mastectomy flap.

Anecdotally, these breast implant patients have been well served by lower than average rates of scar accumulation around these devices. These acellular dermal grafts fuse with the native tissue, as blood vessels grow into it. The rates of "rejection" are extremely rare, however it is very possible to develop a "seroma", or a collection of fluid, which interferes with the graft's adherence. It is typical to use a closed suction drain as well as activity restriction and compression garments, to prevent the protein rich fluid from becoming infected. It is widely held that this "incorporation" phase generally takes 2 weeks. After this time, the chance of "rejection" is extremely low.

The main clinical difference between the two is the distensibility of the grafts. Strattice feels stiffer and so is better matched with abdominal hernia repair and possibly with stabilization of large volume breast implants. Hope this helps.

Lavinia Chong, MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Alloderm for Symmastia? What is the success rate of using Alloderm to correct Symmastia?

A: Repair of Symmastia

This is a difficult problem as other has explained. The best way of approaching this is to remove the implant, close of the defect and come back later, about 6 months to redo the augmentation. Even then, you would have to go smaller than you are now.

The single stage is possible but it does have a higher failure rate, however, again you would need to go much smaller.

Good luck.

Farbod Esmailian, MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Is Alloderm Not Sterile? I'm about to have surgery, where my doctor is going to use Alloderm. After reading that Alloderm is not sterile, how concerned should I be?

A: Alloderm is safe for implantation.

You should not be concerned about sterility issues with Alloderm. I have used the product since 1995 (initially in burn reconstruction and more recently, in breast reconstruction) and can attest that the manufacturer, LifeCell has extremely high quality control standards in production as well as in tracking any "complications", such as seroma, infection, delayed wound healing, transmissible viral particles. To my knowledge, there have never been any infections reported. The process by which it is prepared will ensure that the graft remains its ability to "grow" into and fuse with the patient's own tissues. Hope this helps. good luck.

Lavinia Chong, MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon