03/07/2016    

PODIATRISTS IN THE NEWS - PART 1

PA Podiatrist and Plastic Surgery Use Liposuction to Restore Fat Pads

 

Imagine feeling excruciating pain every time you take a step. For some cyclists and runners, years of devotion to their sport results in something called fat pad atrophy; fat at the balls of the feet wears away, leaving nothing but bone. Now doctors are studying a new procedure to cushion the feet using a patient’s own cells. Podiatrist Beth Gusenoff and plastic surgeon Jeffrey Gusenoff of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh are married and blending their expertise to test a new procedure for foot fat atrophy using liposuction cells from a patient’s abdomen. 

 

Dr. Beth Gusenoff

 

Dr. Beth Gusenoff told Ivanhoe, “We’re hopefully cushioning the bone so that when they walk, they aren’t constantly bruising it and banging it against the ground." The doctors explained because they are using a patient’s own cells, it’s unlikely they will have a reaction to it. They said the grafts take about four to six weeks to take effect. Beth and Jeffrey Gusenoff are also starting a second trial to measure the way the fat distributes itself in the foot after transplant.

 

Source: Leslie Mouton KSAT-TV (ABC) via Ivanhoe [3/4/16]