Long-term follow-up after autologous fat grafting: analysis of results from 116 patients followed at least 12 months after receiving the last of a minimum of two treatments.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of long-term results for correction of facial rhytides with single or multiple autologous fat transplants remains controversial.
OBJECTIVE: This study is a retrospective review of short- and long-term results for 116 patients who underwent multiple autologous fat grafting sessions into the nasolabial and melolabial (lateral oral commissure) fold, and in some cases additional sites such as lips and glabella.
METHODS: Criteria for inclusion into the study included at least two treatment sessions and at least a 12-month follow-up evaluation after the last treatment received. A 14-gauge needle cannula was used to aspirate the donor fat and to inject the fat grafts.
RESULTS: For the nasolabial and melolabial folds, short-term results at 3-4 months were uniformly excellent. Gradual correction loss was noted between 5 and 8 months, with 25% of patients still rated as excellent and 40% as good. Most patients continued to show correction loss between 9 and 14 months. Only 3-4% of the patients truly maintained long-term correction for more than 14 months. Multiple re-treatments did not significantly increase the percent of patients showing long-term results. For the glabella, the results were very disappointing, with most patients showing complete loss of correction after 3-4 months. For lip augmentation, correction loss was slower than in the glabella, but most patients showed complete loss of correction by 5-8 months. Complications were minimal.
CONCLUSION: Autologous fat grafting is most effective for relatively short-term improvement of facial aging changes in the nasolabial and oral commissures areas. It is less effective for lip augmentation and completely ineffective for the glabella area.