The Fourth World Congress of the International Society of Plastic Regenerative Surgeons: Another Successful Scientific Forum for Regenerative Surgery

After reorganization, the International Society of Plastic and Regenerative Surgeons (ISPRES) is now a sister society under the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) with its unique mission to promote regenerative therapies represented by clinical application of fat grafting and adipose-derived stem cells. ISPRES was originally launched as a daughter society of International Federation of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery in 2011. The First World Congress was held in Rome, Italy, in 2012 and the Second World Congress was in Berlin, Germany, in 2013.^1,2 After the Third World Congress in Miami in 2014, the Fourth World Congress of ISPRES was held on December 4 to 6, 2015 in Beijing, China. The congress was organized by the Plastic Surgery Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and sponsored by the Chinese Society of Plastic Surgeons (CSPS) and ASPS. The congress was held at the Beijing International Convention Center with more than 500 participants from China and from all over the world. Leaders from both ISPRES and CSPS had served as conference chairmen and chairmen of the Organization Committee and the Scientific Program Committee (Table 1). Twenty-four internationally renowned experts and seven local experts from China were invited as panel speakers (Table 2). Additional 20 renowned Chinese plastic surgeons were also invited to participate in the minimally invasive course as invited speakers.

Table 1.

Committees of the Congress

Table 2.

Invited Faculty

On the first day of the congress, 5 live surgeries were broadcasted from the operating rooms of the Plastic Surgery Hospital in Beijing. In the morning session, Dr. Roger Khouri performed breast augmentation with fat grafting after BRAVA treatment; Dr. Luiz Toledo performed buttock augmentation with fat grafting; and Dr. Yoshimura performed breast implant replacement with fat. Dr. Brian Kinney served as a moderator in the meeting hall and Dr. Tom Biggs served as comoderator but in the operation room. A master seminar was organized during the lunch break. Among several speakers, Dr. Sydney Coleman gave a wonderful lecture on Fat Grafting: Past, Present, and Future. In the afternoon live surgery session, Dr. Pu performed facial rejuvenation with fat grafting and Dr. Facheng Li performed facial fat reduction with BodyTite, a promising technology of radio frequency. Dr. Sydney Coleman served as a moderator in the meeting hall and Dr. Tom Biggs again served as comoderator in the operating room. Many important technical points of each procedure performed by those master surgeons were clearly demonstrated during the live surgery. At the end of the first day, a 2-hour video section was presented. A number of unique procedures such as clinical application of stromal vascular fraction and nanofat grafting were given by renowned international experts from ISPRES. All the meeting participants were absolutely impressed with quality and clarity of the live surgery, the master seminar session, and the video session. At night, a faculty dinner was held in the congress hotel. All invited international and Chinese Faculty members enjoyed not only the delicious Chinese cuisine but also traditional show performed by local artists (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

A group photograph of invited international faculty and Chinese faculty during the faculty dinner.

The second day of the congress started with the official opening ceremony. Dr. Shuzhong Guo, President of the CSPS, Dr. Roger Khouri, President of ISPRES and Conference Co-Chairmen, Dr. Kevin Chung, a Representative for ASPS, Dr. Sydney Coleman, Honorary Co-Chairmen, Dr. Luan Jie, Co-Chairmen of the Organization Committee, and Dr. Pu, Co-Chairmen of the Scientific Program Committee, each gave their welcome remarks to the audience. The opening ceremony was concluded with recognition of 2 newly published volumes of Clinics in Plastic Surgery entitled Fat Grafting: Current Concepts, Clinical Applications, and Regenerative Potential edited by Drs. Pu, Yoshimura, and Coleman. All the chapter contributors were invited to the stage to be recognized (Fig. 2). These 2 new publications include the latest information on fat grafting and regenerative surgery, representing an international effort from the members of ISPRES.

Fig. 2.

All 3 editors and most of contributors for these 2 issues of Clinics in Plastic Surgery were acknowledged during the opening ceremony.

In the morning session, there were 2 panels on Basic Concept and Technique of Fat Grafting presented by six renowned experts. The topics included the following: Can we standardize the techniques for fat grafting?; Lipostructure: Basic techniques; Fat grafting: Personal principle and technique; and Fat grafting from reconstructive to aesthetic. During the panel on fat grafting research, biology of fat grafting and external volume expansion and also the research on growth factors in adipose tissue were also presented by renowned experts. These 3 important panels indeed have highlighted the scientific content of the congress.

There were 4 panels in the afternoon session of the second day. In the breast augmentation panel, composite fat grafting, Chinese perspective of fat grafting for breast augmentation, and breast augmentation with BRAVA and fat grafting were presented by renowned experts, especially Dr. Roger Khouri. In the breast reconstruction panel, the safety of breast reconstruction with fat grafting, fat grafting for breast reconstruction with BRAVA, Chinese perspective of fat grafting for breast reconstruction, and total breast reconstruction with fat grafting were presented by renowned experts. Dr. Gino Rigotti gave his perspective on “where we are now for total breast reconstruction with fat grafting.” In the risk, complication, and regulation panel, safety of lipofilling in breast cancer patients and risk and regulation issues of stem cells and fat transfer were also presented. The Facial Rejuvenation panel was the last one on that day. Most audience stayed even for the last panel of the day. Drs. Gino Rigotti, Patrick Tonnard, and Sydney Coleman each presented a wonderful lecture on fat grafting for facial rejuvenation.

On the third day of the congress, 3 concurrent sessions were held. In Room A, panel presentations were continued. In the body contouring and extremity panel, correction of liposuction created contour deformity with fat grafting, a 30-year experience of liposculpture, and ultrasonic assisted megalipoplasty were presented. In 2 regenerative application panels, scaffolds in regenerative surgery, lift and fill facelift, tissue-engineered dermis grafting, stem cells enriched fat injections for facial scars and facial rejuvenation, fat grafting for promotion of wound healing, fat injection for treatment of velopharyngeal incompetence, allogeric stromal vascular fraction for chronic skin diseases, and treatment on degenerative joint diseases with mixture of platlet-rich-plasma and microfat grafting were presented by renowned experts. In room B, a total of 20 abstracts were presented by young investigators from all over the world who eagerly shared their original research findings on fat grafting. In room C, a minimally invasive course was organized by Dr. Haiyan Cui, a scientific Co-Chairman of the congress. Dr. Cui had organized a full-day course for minimally invasive procedures, dealing primarily with facial rejuvenation and others. Invited Chinese plastic surgeons indeed gave many excellent presentations on fillers, Botox, fat grafting, and even hair transplantation. In addition, the management of complications from fat grafting, Asian blepharoplasty, and rhinoplasty were also presented by them. This course attracted most young meeting participants who had stayed for this wonderful course.

The Fourth Congress of ISPRES just like previous ones was another great success for international scientific exchange of fat grafting and regenerative surgery.^1,2 There were 5 world class live surgery demonstrations and 96 panel lectures by international renowned experts of fat grafting. The feedback from the audience for this 3-day intensive conference was extremely positive and the meeting participants really enjoyed such a high class of scientific exchange on fat grafting and regenerative surgery. The local organizer had done a great job to provide English to Chinese translation and therefore most of the Chinese audience was able to learn in depth about new development on fat grafting and regenerative surgery from invited speakers. The attendees also enjoyed rekindling old and cultivating new friendships with invited international speakers. During the ISPRES’ board meeting, which was held on the third day, many important items were discussed including feedback from the Fourth World Congress and the future World Congresses for 2016 and 2017 (Fig. 3). All the board members are happy to learn that ISPRES now has more than 1,100 members registered through its website (http://www.ispres.org). With the capable administrative support from ASPS, ISPRES, as a new international society with their primary focus on fat grafting and regenerative surgery, will likely be successful in the years to come. The 2016 World Congress is scheduled to be held on October 7 to 9 in Marseille, France chaired by Professor Guy Magalon, whereas the 2017 World Congress will likely be held in Dubai, UAE, chaired by Dr. Luiz Toledo. We are all looking forward to our future world congresses with excitement.

Fig. 3.

A group photograph of board members during the ISPRES’ board meeting at the Beijing International Convention Center in Beijing, China.