Dr. Renato Calabria, inventor of Stem Cell Face-lift, explains procedure

By April MacIntyre Nov 1, 2010, 20:03 GMT

The procedure’s inventor, Renato Calabria, M.D., straddles both sides of the Atlantic: Italian born, a longtime U.S. citizen with offices in both Rome, Milan and Southern California.

Doctors are claiming that Stem Cell Facelifts are performed in the US, but it is actually fat-transferring.

Here’s the dirty little secret of plastic surgery: It doesn’t last. Once done, it must done again and again as age and gravity continue to make the best surgeon’s work merely ephemeral. 

Now, imagine if a facelift was performed utilizing the patient’s own stem cells culled from his or her unwanted fat tissue. Stem cells’ natural regenerative process would allow the skin to constantly rejuvenate itself, in theory eliminating the need for future procedures.

“Cell Enhanced Face Lift,” a stem-cell regenerative procedure available in Europe, is now being brought to the U.S. market, and it promises to be a game changer.

The procedure’s inventor, Renato Calabria, M.D., straddles both sides of the Atlantic:  Italian born, a longtime U.S. citizen with offices in both Rome, Milan and Southern California.

The Europe Union’s more progressive regulations have allowed him to perfect the procedure there, as it waits for final FDA approval in the U.S.

Dr. Calabra performed the very first bona fide stem cell facelift in 2009 in Florence. The stem-cell facelift, a revolutionary new procedure soon to be FDA approved, promises to take the US by storm. 

Calabria is careful to point out the distinction of using adult stem cells as opposed to embryonic stem cells, which continue to be at the center of controversy. 

Calabria tells Monsters and Critics that the stem cells used in his Cell Enhanced Face Lift are collected from the patient’s own fat cells. “About a decade, it was discovered that there were adult stem cells in a body in sort of a dormant state, and that they get reactivated when they get a signal from the body. We found that a rich source of these adult stem cells is found in fat tissue,” he explains.

Dr. Calabria’s pioneering procedure debunks other doctors’ claims of performing stem cell facelifts.  In fact, they are really “fat grafting”--- using a patient’s fat tissue as filler. 

This is a controversial procedure because fat is not easy to inject and can cause irregular contouring and an uneven surface.  Further, the re-absorption rate ranges from 20% to 90%.

Dr. Calabria’s technique promises to circumvents these problems. It also promises the facelift to last much longer due to its regenerative components.  Presently, a facelift will last approximately 10-15 years before having to have it redone. 

How it works

The stem-cell face lift incorporates the use of a sophisticated new device that separates the stem cells from the patient’s fat tissue, leaving concentrated adult stem cells which are then injected into the face.  

The stem cells serve to “volumize” the face, restoring its youthful contour and skin tightness.   The regenerative effect results in is a dramatic improvement in both the texture of the skin and the underlying soft tissue on the patient’s face.

While the procedure is potentially ground-breaking, Calabria cautions that plastic surgery will always be dependent on the skills of the surgeon.

“Beyond technology is what is left to the plastic surgeon himself – to his aesthetic taste, to his sense of beauty, to his technique,” he says. And in the debate over less or more, Calabria definitely subscribes to the theory that in plastic surgery less is always more. “There’s nothing worse in my opinion that an overdone technique. My goal is always to produce a natural look. The Cell-Enhanced Face Lift technique is the ultimate tool in that regard,” he says.