Author: Mark Mascolini
23 April 2009
Long-term follow-up of 145 HIV-infected Spanish patients who received polyacrylamide hydrogel (Aquamid) injections for facial fat wasting showed only 1 serious complication after more than 4 years. Most people reported being satisfied with the results, though most also said they would like to have further injections.
The study involved 145 patients who received Aquamid from September 2002 to April 2004, 62% of whom had severe facial lipoatrophy before treatment. Cumulative Aquamid volume was 5.5 mL per patient, and follow-up averaged 50.2 months after injection.
During follow-up, only 1 patient had a local infection as a results of Aquamid treatment. The most common side effects were nonvisible nodules in 19.3% and induration in 6.2%.
When the investigators extended the analysis to include 294 people treated with Aquamid for fewer than 4 years, they counted three additional cases of local infection, but incidence of this complication remained just below 1%.
Most people (88.9%) reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the results of Aquamid treatment. Rates of those very satisfied were higher among people with mild to moderate atrophy before treatment (92.7%) than among those with severe pretreatment lipoatrophy (86.5%).
Physicians determined that 9.2% of these people required additional injections, but 76% said they would prefer more treatment.
Despite the low long-term complication rate, the authors advise careful continued follow-up to detect unexpected problems.
Source: Eugenia Negredo, Jordi Puig, David Aldea, Manuel Medina, Carla Estany, Núria Pérez-Álvarez, Carmina Rodríguez-Fumaz, Jose A. Muñoz-Moreno, Carmen Higueras, Vicente Gonzalez-Mestre, Bonaventura Clotet. Four-year safety with polyacrylamide hydrogel to correct antiretroviral-related facial lipoatrophy. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. 2009;25:451-455.
For the study abstract
(Downloading the complete article requires a subscription to AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses or an online payment; the abstract is free.)