Brazilian bum lifts are ‘deadliest cosmetic procedure’, warns top doc – as Brit mum dies in Turkish clinic
BRAZILIAN bum lifts are the "deadliest cosmetic procedure", a top surgeon warned - as a Brit mum died after a botched op in Turkey.
Leah Cambridge, 29, from Leeds, collapsed shortly after the start of the £3,000 procedure.
The clinic boasts that clients get “UK standards of care".
Yet Leah's partner is desperately trying to find out what went wrong.
It's believed she died in the operating theatre but her cause of death is not yet known.
Beautician Leah checked into the Elite Aftercare clinic in Izmir for the Brazilian butt lift, made famous by US reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
Its website says boasts of carrying out plastic surgery on Towie stars Lauren Goodger and Amber Dowding and Geordie Shore’s Chloe Ferry.
But cheap, overseas clinics are contributing to a rise in deaths from the procedure, professor for aesthetic surgery Jim Frame from Anglia Ruskin University warned.
Last year a survey of 692 surgeons from across the world found 32 patients had died from a condition called a fat embolism - where the injected fat travels to other parts of the body that it shouldn't.
There were also 103 non-fatal cases, but there are probably many more that remain unreported, Prof Frame, a consultant at Springfield Hospital, Chelmsford, wrote for
"In one recently reported case in the US that led to death from a fat embolism, surgeons believed injections had been made into superficial fat, but at the post-mortem fat was found in the heart and lungs.
"There was also some evidence of damage to gluteal blood vessels."
That was the case of Heather Meadows, 29 from West Virginia, who had travelled to Encore Plastic Surgery in Florida for a bum lift.
"However, it should be noted that fat is also injected into muscle for some breast enhancement surgery, with no reported deaths. This suggests that there are other factors involved in the high mortality rate among Brazilian bum lift patients," Prof Frame added.
"Most of these deaths appear to have been caused by inappropriately qualified practitioners working in non-approved facilities, including homes and garages.
"Other post-surgery problems, such as gangrene and sepsis, can also be fatal."
The controversial op involves taking fat from other areas of the body and injecting it into the glutes and bum to make them bigger.
But, if it's not done correctly, it can cause serious problems.
"To be successful, a fat graft needs nutrition and so has to be injected into tissue that has a blood supply," Prof Frame said.
"Fat has more chance of staying in place if it is inserted into muscle – but this is where the risk lies.
"Injecting fat into the buttocks can easily lead to serious problems if done incorrectly. These include a fat embolism, when fat enters the bloodstream and blocks a blood vessel.
"In the lungs, for example, it blocks oxygen from entering the bloodstream, while in the brain it can cause a stroke – both can be fatal."
Cost can be 70% cheaper
COSMETIC procedures in Turkey are advertised at prices more than 70 per cent cheaper than here.
Face and neck lifts in the country can cost as little as £2,640, against around £4,500 in Britain.
Boob jobs at one Turkish clinic are on offer for £2,725 compared with £5,500 at home.
The packages include consultations with the surgeon, the op, anaesthetist and hospital fees, medication and post-operative check-ups abroad.
And clinics say they can book flights, accommodation and transfer for as little as ten per cent of the treatment cost.
A hair transplant is priced at upwards of £12,000 in the UK, putting it out of reach for most Brits. But the cost in Turkey can be £1,500.
Botched foreign cosmetic surgery procedures have cost the NHS about £30million since 2013.
So, is it worth getting a bum lift?
The bottom line is, you need to seriously consider the risks of undertaking the op and research where you will have it done.
Though the price tag of an overseas or cheap clinic may seem appealing, you could end up paying with your life.
"The potential risk of death from a fat embolism has to be weighed against the benefits, especially in cases where there are physical and functional benefits to having the surgery," Prof Frame said.
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"In the case of the Brazilian butt lift, perhaps the risks outweigh the benefits.
"Nevertheless, in a celebrity and beauty obsessed society, the procedure remains popular, despite the risks.
"So it is important that surgeons make the risks of the procedure very clear to anyone considering it.
"Patient safety should always be the top priority. And surgeons need to do more to increase the safety of the procedure and lower the unnecessarily high mortality rate."
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