Body Contouring : Body Contour Restoration for HIV-related Lipodystrophy
BODY CONTOUR RESTORATION FOR HIV-RELATED LIPODYSTROPHY
Patients with long-standing HIV positivity often develop areas of fat accumulation and/or fat atrophy. It is not clear if this is due to the disease alone or to one class of medication used to treat HIV. Regardless of the cause, the result can be very troublesome to the patient. Most commonly affected areas are the cheeks which lose their fullness, and the upper back which develops a soft-tissue mass. As the mass increases in size, it becomes increasingly uncomfortable, causing postural disturbances and neck pain. The mass can extend to the posterior neck or even the scalp. Often there is fullness in the anterior neck as well. Other areas affected are the chest with breast development (gynecomastia); the abdomen with increasing internal fat deposition (isolated truncal obesity), and the arms and legs with atrophy or wasting.
Many of the affected areas benefit from surgical treatment. There are soft-tissue fillers which can be used to treat the soft-tissue atrophy of the face (Newfill, Radiance). The excess soft tissue of the back and neck can be treated with ultrasonic liposuction and/or direct excision. Gynecomastia is also readily treated in this fashion.
DISCLAIMER: Before and after results are NOT a guarantee that your results will be the same or similar. Each patient’s results will be different. Your results will vary from other patient’s results.