E3272. I Like Big Butts (on MRI): A Radiologist's Guide to Reporting on Cosmetic Injectables for the Plastic Surgeon
Authors
Nadia Solomon;
Yale School of Medicine
Francisco Calle;
Hospital Militar Central
Jonathan Luchs;
Premier Radiology Services
Mine Sorkun;
Kok University Hospital
Angel Donato;
Hospital Militar Central
Douglas Katz;
NYU Langone Health
Margarita Revzin;
Yale School of Medicine
Background
Although performing and receiving cosmetic injectables has become mainstream, the materials used are not always safe or legally sanctioned, and the practice of medical tourism, in which patients travel abroad to undergo procedures (whether due to the perception that practitioners in the region of travel are experts in a particular procedure or to decrease costs), is common. In such cases, patients can present with complications of soft tissue injections, ranging from cosmetic deformity to life-threatening conditions. Patients often require multiple surgeries to remove the affected tissue and ultimately achieve cosmesis. The purpose of this exhibit is to help the radiologist build a foundation of knowledge on cosmetic injectables, their composition, imaging findings, complications, and surgical management, with special attention to the role of imaging in guiding corrective surgery, and the imaging findings at various stages of corrective surgery.
Educational Goals / Teaching Points
This exhibit will provide an introduction to cosmetic injectables for the radiologist. Appearances of injectables on imaging, imaging of potential complications, and the radiologists' role in guiding surgical management of patients requiring injectable removal and cosmetic revisions will be discussed using example cases and review of the radiological and surgical literature.
Key Anatomic/Physiologic Issues and Imaging Findings/Techniques
This exhibit will describe the appearances of different types of injectables (i.e., silicone, aquafiller) on multimodality imaging (with particular focus on MRI) throughout the body, as well as potential complications and their associated imaging findings (i.e., infection, foreign material migration, intramuscular location) and provide guidance to radiologists for how to report on findings related to injectables and their complications in order to best guide surgical management. It will also describe the stepwise process by which patients with injectables are typically surgically managed, including normal postoperative imaging findings and imaging of postoperative complications.
Conclusion
Given the increasing popularity of performing and receiving cosmetic injections, the all-too-common use of unsanctioned materials, the range of potential complications, and the necessity for surgical management in many cases to manage medical complications and achieve cosmesis, it behooves the radiologist and the patient for the radiologist to understand how to best approach these cases.
