The Wall Center for Plastic Surgery participates in clinical study
As seen in the Forum Newsweekly, March 2009, by Kelly McCoy
The board-certified plastic surgeons at the Wall Center for Plastic Surgery – Drs. Simeon Wall Sr., Simeon Wall Jr., Holly Casey Wall and Michael Lee – are currently preparing to take part in a national trial study of the adjustable gel implant conducted by the Mentor Corporation, the worldwide leader in breast implant manufacturing. The Wall Center for Plastic Surgery is one of Mentor’s largest accounts in this region of the country, and the physicians’ combined experience of more than 50 years in plastic surgery and performance of more than 2,000 cosmetic surgery procedures a year has placed them among the elite group of surgeons chosen as investigators in this study.
The Wall Center surgeons are three among the 30 plastic surgeons selected nationwide by Mentor to participate in a clinical study for its adjustable gel implant, the latest concept in breast implant design for cosmetic breast enhancement. The group is the only plastic surgery practice chosen from the southern region, which includes Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and New Mexico. The recognition is significant for the Shreveport area as a majority of the 30 physicians involved represent Beverly Hills; Miami; Jacksonville, Fla.; and New York.
“We are just really excited to be included with these other big destinations,” Dr. Simeon Wall Jr. said. “Mentor wants to pick people who have a very high volume of breast augmentations and have a lot of experience with breast augmentation surgery because it is very important to them.” The remaining 27 plastic surgeons are also among Mentor’s top accounts, and most notably, one of the surgeons is Dr. Robert Rey from the E! Channel show, “Dr. 90210.”
The adjustable gel implant is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval in the United States and is presently in use in Europe, achieving great results.
“We are all very excited about it, and we really want to get the study filled up as quickly as possible,” said Wall Jr., who has not established an exact number of patients to be involved but does anticipate a high volume of women interested in participating in the study to be conducted over the course of several months. “Pretty much anyone who is looking for a breast augmentation could potentially be a candidate,” said Wall Jr., who also believes the study will endorse the gel implants with positive recognition as a wonderful new option for women seeking breast augmentation surgery.
The Mentor Corporation’s adjustable gel implant is innovative in that it contains the best of both FDA-approved implants currently on the market, gel and saline. Wall said most doctors and patients are in agreement over the gel implant being the superior choice for a breast augmentation. The gel implant has a softer, more natural appearance and lengthier lifespan, while saline implants have the added benefit of being adjustable. The adjustable gel implant contains a small inner chamber that can be filled with variable amounts of saline during a regular office visit or left completely empty. The size of the implant can be varied according to the patient’s desire.
The breast augmentation procedure is no different than that of the gel or saline implant, but the adjustable gel implant “has all of the advantages of a gel implant,” as well as “the additional advantage of being able to adjust it for different size breasts,” like a saline implant, said Wall Jr. Another unique quality of the adjustable gel implant is surgeons “have the ability to adjust the implant over a longer period of time if a woman is not exactly sure what size she wants to be.”
The adjustable gel implant has the ability to be altered up to six months after surgery. “None of the other implants on the market are really adjustable for a long period of time,” he said of the new implants’ advantages over the other types. The implants’ adjustability not only provides women who have undergone breast augmentation surgery to come back and alter their size post-surgery, but also allows plastic surgeons to correct a difference between a woman’s breast size.
The Wall Center for Plastic Surgery’s new state-of-the-art facility is located at at 8600 Fern Ave, Shreveport, LA 71105. For more information or to schedule a consultation, call (318) 795-0801.
