title: Radial extracorporeal shock wave treatment harms developing chicken embryos.
abstract: Radial extracorporeal shock wave treatment (rESWT) has became one of the best investigated treatment modalities for cellulite, including the abdomen as a treatment site. Notably, pregnancy is considered a contraindication for rESWT, and concerns have been raised about possible harm to the embryo when a woman treated with rESWT for cellulite is not aware of her pregnancy. Here we tested the hypothesis that rESWT may cause serious physical harm to embryos. To this end, chicken embryos were exposed in ovo to various doses of radial shock waves on either day 3 or day 4 of development, resembling the developmental stage of four- to six-week-old human embryos. We found a dose-dependent increase in the number of embryos that died after radial shock wave exposure on either day 3 or day 4 of development. Among the embryos that survived the shock wave exposure a few showed severe congenital defects such as missing eyes. Evidently, our data cannot directly be used to draw conclusions about potential harm to the embryo of a pregnant woman treated for cellulite with rESWT. However, to avoid any risks we strongly recommend applying radial shock waves in the treatment of cellulite only if a pregnancy is ruled out.
authors: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Research Unit, Department of Anatomy II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors: Maren C
authors: MC
authors: Kiessling
authors: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Research Unit, Department of Anatomy II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Milz
authors: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Research Unit, Department of Anatomy II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors: Hans-Georg
authors: HG
authors: Frank
authors: Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Pet Fish, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Oberschleissheim, Germany.
authors: Rüdiger
authors: R
authors: Korbel
authors: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Research Unit, Department of Anatomy II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Schmitz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo / Q000528:radiation effects*; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000209:etiology*; D019220:High-Energy Shock Waves / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010641:Phenotype
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