ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: JAMES SCHULTZ THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
LIPOSHAVING soon may replace liposuction after diets fail if all goes well for a University of Virginia surgeon's invention.
Dr. Charles Gross confesses to being 30 pounds overweight, but that doesn't mean he's ready to volunteer as a test subject for his own invention.
Diet first, he says. Then, and only then, ``we'll see.''
Across the country, however, many others are waiting to see whether a fat-reduction method, known as ``liposhaving,'' that Gross pioneered could supplement or even replace liposuction, one of the country's most popular plastic surgery procedures. The advance could reduce the pain and discomfort of fat removal, cut recuperation times in half and substantially lower hospitalization costs.
``I think I've done some fairly significant things in medicine,'' said Gross, a head-and-neck surgeon at the University of Virginia's Health and Sciences Center. ``Probably this was not the most important or the most difficult. But it sure has gotten a lot of attention.''
The interest comes as the waistlines of aging baby boomers bulge and the nation collectively grows more tubby. According to figures compiled by the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, surgical removal of body fat, or liposuction, is No. 1 on the list of what the group calls ``aesthetic procedures.''
Gross has spent 2 1/2 years perfecting a device that he originally used to remove polyps, or tissue growths, from the nasal and sinus cavities of patients. He says he realized the instrument that shaved away polyps layer by layer could be adapted to do the same thing with fat.
When put on the end of a cannula, or tube (also used in liposuction), small, rotating blades with serrated edges could carve away fatty tissue, and without the dimpling or asymmetry sometimes reported with liposuction.
What's more, the Gross cannula was smaller than the one required by the traditional method, resulting in a smaller incision.
The net result: less physical trauma, faster healing times and a better-looking, fat-reduced body part.
Gross and UVa colleagues first tested a prototype device on cadavers at the university's hospital. Eventually, Linvatec Corp., of Largo, Fla., produced several versions of the liposhaver, which have been used on about a dozen volunteers in Charlottesville.
Several medical groups around the country continue to evaluate Gross' innovation, gathering clinical data that will be used to modify and improve the instrument.
``To date, [liposhaving] appears to be a safe and rapid method of removing fat,'' said Dr. M. Eugene Tardy, a professor of head-and-throat surgery at the University of Illinois.
Ruby Kennedy has only praise for the technique. Kennedy, a UVa fiscal technician, was bothered for years by sagging skin under her chin.
In late November, Kennedy stepped before a national television audience on Phil Donahue's show, just three days after liposhaving surgery. Gross, who had performed the procedure, accompanied Kennedy.
Although her neck and chin were discolored, a bruising effect common after cosmetic surgery, Kennedy said she felt no pain.
Liposhaving has yet to be evaluated for the abdomen, buttocks or hips. And liposuction is a tried-and-true procedure, with fairly well understood benefits and drawbacks.
One of liposhaving's biggest potential problems is that posed by the instrument's cutting blades. If improperly handled, the device could cause much damage to supporting tissues near the area where fat is to be removed.
A blunt liposuction cannula pushes aside large blood vessels and nerves, but the liposhaver could cut right through them.
Gross concedes the dangers. He and others are exploring ways to reduce the threat of inadvertent injury.
The 65-year-old Gross, who has spent virtually his whole adult life studying or practicing medicine, appears bemused by the national attention his invention has generated. He's done television shows, been interviewed by the British Broadcasting Co. and been the subject of at least 50 newspaper articles.
Gross guesses it's just the sign of the times that people have become preoccupied by the reshaping of ample contours.
``A self-image in today's society is terrifically important. I don't want to underplay that,'' he said. ``It's the age we live in.''
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP By adapting nasal surgery instruments,by CNBCharlottesville doctor Charles Gross says he has found a better way
to remove fat.