4/28/06

At the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) in Orlando, Fla, Steven Cohen, MD, said polymethylmethacrylate would be the first permanent wrinkle filler approved for use in the United States. An FDA study of the product has been completed, and the company expects to hear the final word within the next few months.

Polymethylmethacrylate is made of microscopic spheres of polymethyl-methacrylate, the same material used to make plexiglas. The material is injected under the skin, in places where patients want lines to be less noticeable. Past studies have revealed that the filler stimulates the body to create its own collagen, thus filling in wrinkles. It would be indicated for use in the nasolabial folds or laugh lines.

According to Cohen, the reason the FDA has taken so much time to fully study the product is because anything “permanent” may cause a “permanent problem.” Cohen adds that “in some ways [polymethylmethacrylate] is only 20% of the solution, and the way the body’s own tissue reacts to this filler is the other 80%.”

[Ivanhoe.com, April 27, 2006]