New-Fill to treat facial wasting.

Looking in the mirror can be a humbling experience. For HIV positive people with facial wasting, or lipoatropy, the experience can be traumatic. Facial lipoatropy refers to subcutaneous fat loss in the cheeks and temples resulting in a bony, emaciated appearance. The condition may mild to severe. As with other symptoms of lipodystrophy, or body fat abnormality syndrome (such as fat loss in the limbs and buttocks, and fat accumulation in the abdomen), the only thing known for certain about facial wasting is that it exists; precise causes have not been identified and successful strategies to prevent the condition remain elusive. A recently developed cosmetic treatment for facial wasting, polylactic acid (PLA) or New-Fill, appears to be well tolerated in European clinical trials and anecdotal reports. Although the treatment has been approved in Europe and Mexico, the future of PLA access in the U.S. remains uncertain.