Breast Implants Help a Rare Heart Condition

What would you do -- total panic notwithstanding -- if doctors were to find your heart beating under your kidney?

In a case so rare it has no medical name -- but is being described only as “a floating heart,” -- a Florida woman’s heart was found to be shifting around in her body. Doctors found it stuck in her rib cage under her kidney.

According to news reports, the 35-year-old woman’s right lung had been removed long ago, leaving space for her heart in which to wander around.

Having never seen the condition before, physicians were at a loss to come up with a treatment. One doctor said the patient was the only person in the world with the disorder.

The treatment? Breast implants!


Robert Rey, M.D. of Dr. 90210 fame shows a breast
implant
(Photo, courtesy of Dr. Rey.)

It required a four and one-half hour operation, but breast implants -- used in the standard breast augmentation procedure -- filled the space where the lung used to be and holds the heart in the correct position.

“Clever idea, actually,” says Robert Kotler, M.D., a board certified Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon. “The chest surgeons used the breast implants as a large-space ‘filler’.”

Editor’s note: Dr. Kotler is one half of the Tuck ‘n’ Stitch bloggers.

Dr. 90210 Plastic Surgeon as Artist?

Q: What type of plastic surgery starts with reading all the art books any art student must know?

A: High-definition LipoSculpture.

John Millard, M.D., one of the doctors seen on Dr. 90210, learned to combine art with medicine and sculpts not stone, but people.

So who needs it?

Fitness and iron pumping buffs who strain, toil and sweat for endless hours in the gym to create bulging muscles….that are hidden by just a little fat.

Most of us would be thrilled to look like the people in the doc’s before pictures. But people who have undergone high-definition liposuction look like a living Venus de Milo (with arms, of course!) or an Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday.

What does Dr. Millard do differently? He learned where the most arty places are on the human body and now uses his plastic surgery skills to allow those pumped up muscles to shine through in all their glory. Not to get too high brow here, but it’s a concept known as negative space. Read more about High-Definition Liposculpture and art concepts.

Before and After Plastic Surgery Photos

The before and after pictures below show a 43-year-old woman who works out in the gym five days a week.

Her after picture shows what a high-def LipoSculpture looks like when just the right amount of fat is taken from just the right places…exactly like you might find in an book for art students.


Before.


After

It works for guys, too. Pictured below is a 34-year-old firefighter who has been a body builder for about 15 years.


Before Hi-def LipoSculpture


After.

(Photos courtesy of John Millard, M.D.)

Top Ten Things Your Plastic Surgeon Won’t Tell You

1. You’re going to get old anyhow.
Cosmetic plastic surgery does not stop the aging process. Read more.

2. Sure, I’m board certified -- in geriatric medicine.
Many board certifications don’t mean anything for plastic surgery patients. Ask what the surgeon is certified in. More.

3. You need a shrink, not a plastic surgeon.
Some patients are never satisfied and can’t get enough rejuvenation surgery.

4. You can get this procedure for 15 to 30 percent less out of town.
Overhead -- rents, salaries and the cost of operating a business -- are higher in large urban areas. But if you drive out of town you can get the same quality for less.

5. Future effects of surgery? Who Knows?
If you have a breast augmentation, you will have at least one more operation some time in your life to replace the implant. Medical science does not know the future implications of all procedures.

6. Sure, I’ll do your forehead lift. But my specialty is breasts.
Ask your surgeon how many times weekly he or she does the procedure you want. Odds of a good outcome increase if the surgeon performs that operation two to three times a week.

7. It’s the anesthesia you really need to worry about.
If you are put under a general, ask if the anesthesiologist is board certified in anesthesiology. If you will be put to sleep, ask who is going to monitor you. Sometimes, a nurse anesthetist is O.K.

8. My office is not really the best place for surgery.
Some procedures should be done in a certified surgical center or a hospital. Ask if the surgery center is AAAHC or JCAHO certified. Read more.

9. Me? I went to dental school.
Some states allow dentists to perform plastic surgery.

10. You could have four more procedures overseas at
the same price.
Going oversees for plastic surgery can be much, much cheaper but is fraught with risk. Dr. 90210’s Dr. Kotler adds the seven smart questions to ask before having cosmetic surgery overseas.

Plastic Surgery Blog Watch

Current notable entries:

While we’re on the topic of feet: Check the Beauty Chat Blog to learn how Restylane is now being added to fashionable feet for cushioning. You’ll also see news of a Botox-only clinic. Plus, this is a great blog to stay current with the comings, goings and doings of television’s Dr. 90210 surgeons.

Dr. George Berka’s blog observes that cosmetic plastic surgery can improve your mood and even reduce the need for depression medication. You can find a longer take about how psychology, moods and Cosmetic Surgery are all intertwined in the article, Does Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Cure the Blues? One patient in the article was thrown into many years of depression because she suffered a botched nose job. Unfortunately, it happens more often that you may think. So carefully, carefully check the doctor’s credentials. Here’s how.

Next time:

• Breast implants that protected the owner in a car crash and another that stopped an exploding shell
• Yet another breast implant (hint: it has a serial number) identified an unknown body
• Plus, the Beverly Hills Freeway
• New plastic surgery research. (Another hint: scientists have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the right kind of duct tape can cure warts!)