IMCAS Wrap-Up

I have co-directed the IMCAS for a decade and this was the most exciting ever. Among the 3,500 attendees were cosmetic dermatologists, plastic surgeons and a variety of other physicians interested in cosmetic and anti-aging medicine. Much of the newer skin cosmetic techniques are presented at this meeting before they become available in the US. For example there were a variety of new wrinkle fillers discussed at IMCAS that are not yet sold in the US. This will soon change.

Currently we have great wrinkle fillers in the US . These include Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse, Evolence and Sculptra. Soon we will have new fillers. These include Novielle, Voluma and Revanesse (see generic stock photo below).


Novielle represents a group of wrinkle fillers that contain a unique gel polymer. This material is currently undergoing FDA evaluations at several centers, including our New Jersey and Boca Raton, FL offices.

Voluma contains hyaluronic acid, the same wrinkle filler material contained in Restylane and Juvederm. However, the material in Voluma is thicker and will be used for facial sculpturing – an attempt to expand the concept of the liquid facelift.

Finally, Revanesse is another hyaluronic acid now available in both Europe and Canada. All these substances will help to continue the development of non-invasive, non-surgical medicine.

David J. Goldberg, MD
Skin Laser & Surgery Specialists of NY/NJ
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center
Boca Raton, FL

Jason Pozner MD
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center
Boca Raton, FL

Guest Post: Dr. Michael Gold on IMCAS

One of the most well-known speakers at IMCAS was Dr. Michael Gold, from Nashville, TN.

My IMCAS was varied this year - I talked about re-absorbable fillers in the U.S. - what differentiates them and what we need to look for from the FDA as far as safety is concerned - and these products are very safe in the right hands. I was also introduced to Europe Mentor's new toxin - PurTox - a pure neurotoxin finishing clinical trials in the U.S. - and the data associated with those trials.

I also presented on complications of lasers and IPLs - something that we don't usually spend a lot of time on at meetings but is one of the more important topics - I also did this with David Goldberg in the European Laser session. I reviewed what was new in cellulite and fat removal, focusing on the newer devices that are either new to the market or are close to becoming available on the market including for cellulite - SmoothShapes by Eleme (www.elememedical.com). and for body contouring Accent by Alma (www.almalasers.com), Skin Tyte by Sciton (www.sciton.com), Aluma by Lumenis (www.lumenis.com), Smartlipo by Cynosure (www.cynosure.com), ProLipo by Sciton (www.sciton.com), Liposonix for ultrasound fat destruction (www.liposonix.com), Zeltiq for cold fat destruction (www.zeltiq.com).

And I participated in two sessions on marketing - and how we do things in the US versus some of the restrictions in Europe.

The hottest topics by far were toxins and fillers - different from previous years where lasers were right up there - but seemed to be a little bit behind this year. The global economy seemed to have had this influence.

Dr. Michael Gold

Gold Skin Care

Dr. David J. Goldberg
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center
Skin Laser Surgery Specialists NY/NJ

Dr. Jason Pozner
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

See Mentor's new breast implant

Dennis Hammond, MD from Grand Rapids, MI is one of the country's foremost breast implant experts. Below, you can see him showing off Mentor's form stable implant. Officially known as Contour Profile Gel implants, they retain their shape if ruptured.

From Dr. Hammond:

The CPG has been performing very well in both aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery cases. The shapes satisfy the myriad of needs of a wide group of patients, in a simple and easy to use fashion. The Bodylogic system (Ed. Note: Mentor's breast implant sizing system) is easily applied to the use of these devices. Rotation is rare, rupture nearly unheard, and the results have been outstanding.:

These implants, as well as those from competitor Allergan, have been undergoing FDA testing, so as always, no word on when they will be available for use in the US. We'll be back in a few months with an update on these upcoming technologies.

Dr. Jason Pozner

Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Dr. David J. Goldberg

Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Skin Laser Surgery Specialists NY/NJ

IMCAS Wrap Up: Day 2

Drs. Michael Kane and Mark Jewell presented the initial science behind Liposonix, while Dr. Afschin Fatemi from Germany presented his early clinical experiences. Most interesting were the combined deep and superficial treatments he performed with this ultrasound device. Dr. Goldberg recently talked about ultrasound devices with Self Magazine (PDF).

Dieter Manstein, MD presented his work with the Zeltiq cryolipolysis device, which Dr. Goldberg is also working with for a clinical study. For the uninitiated, Cryolipolysis is a patented method that removes fat via a precise cooling process.

It's going to be an interesting next few years with the war between the fat removal devices. We posted on this a few months ago after the ASPS conference. Dr. Goldberg was a coauthor of an abstract recently presented about the early clinical wok with the Zeltiq device.

Here's Dr. Goldberg sharing a moment with Bob Tyson from Zeltiq at their booth:

On another note, it was standing room only in the lectures about fractional laser resurfacing. Many physicians presented about the different fractional lasers out there, including Dr. Goldberg and myself. I spoke about fractional laser complications as did Dr. Christopher Zachary shown in the photo below sharing a moment with Dr. Michael Kane.

Live from Paris: Ultrashape Presentations

Dr. Steve Mulholland of Toronto, Dr. Chris Inglefield of England and Dr. Michael Scheflan all presented along with me at the Ultrashape Symposium at IMCAS. I spoke about the U.S. FDA trial while the my colleagues presented their respective experiences and the worldwide big picture.

With more than 100,000 treatments performed worldwide, Ultrashape is proving to be a safe, effective mode of fat removal. Here are some pictures from the conference:

Glimpse of the future at IMCAS conference...

There are a wide variety of excellent cosmetic dermatology and plastic surgery meetings in the US each year. However, there are almost no meetings in the US where these 2 groups can learn from each other. This is not true in Paris where the annual International Masters Course on Aging Skin (IMCAS) meets from January 8-11, 2009. This international forum brings cosmetic dermatologists, plastic surgeons and other aesthetic physicians all under one roof at the Palais des Congress de Paris – the major meeting convention center in Paris.

IMCAS, a meeting that I have co-directed for almost a decade, represents the place where US dermatologists and plastic surgeons have a chance to learn about a variety of cosmetic treatments not yet available in the US. Similarly the large US faculty, including Dr. Pozner and myself have the opportunity to teach our colleagues from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East about some of the latest techniques that are popular in the US – yet not available elsewhere in the world.

The topics run the full gamut from true surgical procedures, to the latest in lasers, fillers and botulinum toxins – as well advances in the treatment of cellulite, skin stem cell anti-aging advances for beautiful skin and mesotherapy.

The 20 US physicians who will teach at this meeting will not only bring US knowledge to their international peers, but will come back with the latest cosmetic treatments for our US patients as well. Stay tuned in a couple of weeks for highlights of the meeting.

David J. Goldberg, MD

Skin Laser & Surgery Specialists of NY/NJ

Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Jason Pozner, MD

Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center