Message From the ISAPS President

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The first month of the new ISAPS team was exciting and full of work.

You may all have noticed that breast implants are once again the subject of public discussion. The risk of Breast Implant-Associated-ALCL, a new term “Breast Implant Illness” and implant safety is being questioned by investigative journalists worldwide.
We have decided to inform our members of the scientific findings, which I believe is a central task for an international scientific society like ISAPS (read more below).

In this e-magazine I will also be reporting about valuable things for you such as a new ISAPS e-learning platform, our new ISAPS course FAST and our flexible membership fee structure for 2019 with many new attractive options.

BIA-ALCL

The data situation has hardly changed and the mortality rate of 0.4 is lower than the risk of a two-day visit to New York City. The French authorities have recommended the use of smooth textured implants, as no cases of disease have become known for smooth textured implants. However we not consider this recommendation to be balanced, as smooth implants are known to be associated with a higher capsular fibrosis rate and, due to the higher re-surgical rate, pose significant other risks. The FDA and the German public health authorities Bfarm as well as other well-known societies did not follow this directive of the French authorities. We, as conscientious plastic surgeons, should generally inform our patients about the low risk of BIA-ALCL and report our own cases in the PROFIL registry. Our Breast Implant task force will come up with new information and data updates soon.

“Breast Implant Illness”

For some time now this word has been haunting global media. What is behind it? First of all, it is not a diagnosis but an observation of unspecific symptoms such as fatigue, hair loss and joint pain. There are only a few articles in the Pubmed search. The term is almost unknown to immunologists. Despite the fact patients are suffering from a variety of unspecific symptoms whereby 50% improve after implant removal, there is no evidence of a causal link. More research is needed to assess any potential link between other Auto Immune/Inflammatory Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA syndrome) and breast implants.

We should listen carefully to the patient’s symptoms and react scientifically to whether there is actually a connection between the symptoms described and breast implants. ISAPS contributes to this with its own task force.

Implant files and Global Registry

The “Implant files”, an international research by a group of investigative journalists, have triggered a worldwide discussion about the safety of implants. One of the main criticisms is the lack of follow up data and a missing global registry. While the overall safety of our breast implants is extremely high, we all should work nationally and internationally on collecting valid data for a central registry. You can be assured that ISAPS will continue to inform you about progress.

The ISAPS Fundamental Aesthetic Surgery Training Program (FAST)

ISAPS FAST is a new educational program divided into three modules that are taught over a period of one year. Each section focuses on a different anatomic region (Face, Breast, and Body) and covers a core, fundamental curriculum as determined by the Education Council. Content includes but is not limited to:

Basic surgical anatomy
Step-by-step surgical techniques
Pre-op and post-op care of patients
Tips and tricks of each technique
How to avoid or treat common and uncommon complications
Common patient concerns
Minimally and non-invasive techniques
Patient Safety
ISAPS Business School – how to grow, market, protect, and organize an aesthetic surgery practice
How to introduce new technologies into a practice

ISAPS FAST is intended mainly for newly qualified plastic surgeons who are either still in training or who have been in practice for up to 5 years but it may be attended by any plastic surgeon to advance their surgical skills on a basic level. Interested? The first module FAST Face starts in February 2019 in Moscow. Visit www.isapsfast.ru and sign up “fast”…..

ISAPS MedOne

I am happy to announce our new educational platform for plastic surgeons, called ISAPS MedOne. It showcases the entire aesthetic plastic surgery library of Thieme and the former QMP books in a super-interactive format built around common use cases eg: reviewing a case, conference review, learning techniques from master surgeons.

Thieme’s aesthetic content available on ISAPS MedOne first – before the books are even printed. The content is constantly growing, with new books, new masters, procedures, videos and images being added on a regular basis including:

59 aesthetic surgery books
Over 1250 surgical videos
27 masters of aesthetic surgery showcase their personal techniques in surgical video
A library of over 30,000 aesthetic surgery artworks and photos, all downloadable to Powerpoint
Over 1000 interactive questions and answers
Offline/online reading app

This is a must have for up-to-date plastic surgeons! Available early 2019.

Our New Membership Fee Structure

We want to meet your needs in aesthetic education and adapt to the variety of income inequality worldwide that our members are facing. Like in airlines you may choose to fly economy business or first class but all passengers are sitting in the same safe airplane with the same crew and same destination. Let ISAPS be your favorite airline and choose which level of education and comfort suits you best. Extend your membership soon!

The holiday season is on our doorstep and I would like to extend the best wishes from the ISAPS Board of Directors to all of you. Have a great time with your families and friends and we wish you memorable, happy moments.

Yours sincerely,

Dirk Richter MD, PhD