PRESCRIPTIVES

PERRICONE SKIN CARE PRODUCTS

HAIRMAX LASER COMB

Subscribe to a Free Cosmetic Surgery Newsletter

***************************
Press release from softerbreastimplantproject.com (April 12, 2002)

(Los Angeles) Two leading plastic surgeons report consistent success using widely dispensed asthma medications to minimize the problems associated with hardened, painful breasts following an implant procedure. According to Larry Schlesinger, MD of Maui, Hawaii, and Richard Ellenbogen, MD of Beverly Hills, California, these non-steroidal "leucotreine receptor blockers" can cause a dramatic improvement that is readily detectable by the patient.

The March-April issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal carries an initial summary of how Accolate® (zafirkulast) from AstraZeneca (and one other leucotreine blocker) reversed the scarring i.e. hardening of the breast which occurs in as many of thirty percent of all women receiving implants. By breaking down the condition known as "capsular contracture", this medication may return the breast to its original softness, and eliminate the pain caused by the scar tissue encasing the nerves. They have successfully used the medication both as a pre-operative precaution, and post-operatively even once the hard breast condition has appeared.

Dr. Schlesinger first initiated this therapy in 1998, when he and his pharmacist noticed how the new non-steroidal asthma medication seemed to have a highly mitigating effect on darkly pigmented scars. Since scarring is the essential cause of the hard breasts problem, Dr. Schlesinger suspected that the same medication would help his implant patients. Over a three-year period, he observed its effect on his most scar-prone patients - and the results were very encouraging. Then, he and Dr. Ellenbogen used it on a wider patient base with similarly dramatic results.

On April 29, they will be presenting their current findings to the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. This is the largest meeting of plastic surgeons specializing in aesthetic or cosmetic surgery and will be the first public discussion of their observations.

Approximately two million American women have had breast implants, and it is estimated that as many as six hundred thousand of these women have some degree of inflammatory response and scarring which results in capsular contracture. Up to this time, a woman with hard painful breasts must either live with the condition with few options other than Vitamin E ingestion - or undergo a further surgery with no guarantee of relief.

Dr. Schlesinger emphasized that while he has personally seen significant results in more than fifty patients over the last three years, the evidence remains anecdotal until a double blind study is conducted. In order to accelerate public awareness and spur professional review, he and Dr. Ellenbogen have organized and underwritten the "Softer Breast Implant Project", a not-for-profit effort to publicize the information regarding these new options for hard breasts, and to encourage further study of the efficacy of the therapies.

For more information about this initiative, including photos, charts, pharmaceutical information and brief patient case histories, go to softerbreastimplantproject.com