The plastic surgeon Allan Wu thought that would sound strange in his imagination, but he realized that he also had considerable swelling in the eyelid. After several hours of surgery, Wu was surprised to find several small pieces of bone around the right eye of Mrs..

The bone fragments and inflammation were the result of a botched cosmetic operation to which the woman had undergone three months before another doctor, who injected stem cells derived from abdominal fat of women in the direct around the eyes.

Apparently his doctor had previously injected a calcium-based compound as a filler to smooth some wrinkles. The reaction between stem cells and the produced calcium began to develop bone tissue under the skin.

And that mysterious clicking? That was by small pieces of bone near the woman's eyes colliding with each other every time he opened his eyes and blinked.

The stem cell cosmetic procedures are often expensive, the patient had paid over $ 20,000 for the botched operation, but the procedures are not regulated in the U.S. and are not subject to rigorous controls. As a result, a large number of stem cell-based therapies (creams, pills, oils and surgical procedures) are flooding the market, jeopardizing the health of patients and their bank accounts.

Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into specific types of cells such as skin or bone and were enacted as "the beginning of a new world of medicine", including plastic surgery. But because stem cell treatments are so new regulations are so lax, long-term effects of stem cell procedures are completely unknown.

"Many of us are super excited about stem cells, but at the same time we must be very careful," says Paul Knoepfler, cell biologist at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine.

"These are not traditional drugs. If you stop taking a drug, before long, the chemical is removed from your body," said Knoepfler. "But if you put stem cells, chances are you have some of these cells or their effects for the rest of your life. And just do not know what they can do."


This image is a work of a National Science Foundation employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.