Unrecognized cell torpidity as a risk factor in elective plastic surgery

The Authors culture fibroblasts derived from skin samples harvested during reduction mammaplasties for research purposes. A breast reduction case was complicated with bilateral partial nipple-areolar complex necrosis and a major wound dehiscence with fat necrosis in both breasts. Interestingly, the skin samples harvested from this patient and cultured in vitro displayed an unusually torpid fibroblast growth trend in comparison with the cultures derived from other patients. This evidence raises the question whether the unpredictable complications reported in elective plastic surgery procedures that are not attributable to surgical misconduct or patient’s comorbidities and/or risk factors might be related to an unexplored intrinsic cell torpidity that would be worth investigating with genetic and/or metabolic tests. Investigating such a peculiar cellular behavior might be proposed in selected cases to properly address or rebalance the respective patient/physician liabilities within the context of medico-legal litigation.