ABSTRACT
We have seen that a removal in the fat tissue made with a 2-mm-externaldiameter fill needle (14-gauge) mounted on a syringe is composed of fat tissue cylinders whose center is unharmed and which can be used perfectly for a graft. There are in fact intact lobules surrounded by septi and capillaries. However, if instead of a 2-mm needle (14-gauge), a 12-/10-or 8-/10mm (19-or 21-gauge) needle is used, one no longer obtains fat columns but microimplants of intact cells or cores of fat tissue, since the needle acts as a veritable circular scalpel by drilling into the fat tissue. These can be seen with the naked eye when the syringe is emptied into a container of normal saline or when the syringe is shaken. When a 5-cc removal is made, approximately one-fifth is liquid fat and four-fifths is a solid portion made up of microimplants (Figs. 1-3).
