Research Article: Fat Compartment Gliding Theory – A Novel Technique for the Repositioning of Superficial Fat Compartments for Facial Rejuvenation
Abstract:
The past few decades have seen a tremendous advancement in understanding the mechanism of facial aging, evolving from exclusively gravity’s effect on skin into a multifactorial, dynamic, and three-dimensional process involving changes in skin, soft tissue, and bone. Then, Rohrich and Pessa proposed the fat compartment theory, suggesting that facial aging does not occur in a confluent mass and is compartment specific, where deep fat is prone to atrophy, while superficial fat tends to redistribute inferiorly within its boundaries. This inferior displacement is thought to be the product of gravitational forces involving ligamentous laxity and pseudoptosis resulting from deep fat compartment volume loss, with no consensus as to which cause plays a greater role., The descent and separation of the fat compartments leads to the appearance of a deflated midface, V deformity at the lid-cheek junction, bulging jowl fat, and pronounced nasolabial folds, midcheek grooves, and marionette lines. This interestingly highlights the significance of facial fat in the aging process and its possibility to being the key to facial rejuvenation.
Introduction:
The past few decades have seen a tremendous advancement in understanding the mechanism of facial aging, evolving from exclusively gravity’s effect on skin into a multifactorial, dynamic, and three-dimensional process involving changes in skin, soft tissue, and bone. Then, Rohrich and Pessa proposed the fat compartment theory, suggesting that facial aging does not occur in a confluent mass and is compartment specific, where deep fat is prone to atrophy, while superficial fat tends to redistribute inferiorly within…
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