title: Selection of donor site for fat grafting and cell isolation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autologous fat grafting has rapidly become an important treatment for soft tissue defects in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. However, consensus is lacking on the ideal donor site for harvesting and isolating stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells to improve survival of fat grafts. We aimed to determine the best donor site for tissue harvesting and isolation of SVF cells for fat graft survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adipose tissue samples were harvested from six women who underwent an aesthetic procedure. The samples were harvested by needle aspiration of five commonly used donor sites: flank, upper and lower abdomen, and lateral and inner thigh. The adipose tissue was injected subcutaneously into nude mice and grafts were harvested at 12 weeks. We evaluated graft volume, weight, and histologic parameters of the grafts: integrity, cysts/vacuoles, inflammation, fibrosis, and neovascularization. SVF cells isolated from donor sites were counted and assayed by flow cytometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 12 weeks post-transplantation, weight, volume, and histologic parameters did not differ among the grafts from the five tissue donor sites. Also, SVF and levels of cell surface markers did not differ by donor site.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study revealed no ideal tissue donor site for fat grafting and SVF isolation. Choosing a site should be based on ease and safety of access and the preference and request of the patient.
  
  
  METHODS
  This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors                      www.springer.com/00266                                        .
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Kecheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Zhidan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Yunjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Guan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000637:transplantation*; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting