Want cheeks like Angelina Jolie? Research by plastic surgeons at UT Southwestern Medical Center say in a study that rejuvenating newly identified fat compartments in the facial cheeks can help reduce the hollowed look of the face as it ages. 

Dr. Joel Pessa, assistant professor of plastic surgery and a co-author of the medical center study, said special dyes were used to identify and map four cheek-fat compartments that were hidden deep beneath the skin. When the compartments are restored using fat, tissue fillers or artificial implants, the result is a more youthful and less hollow look to the face. 

The restoration of these compartments also improves volume loss under the eyes, helps get rid of lines around the nose and mouth and gives more curve to the upper lip - all of which give the face a more youthful appearance. 

"Cheeks are vital to what we consider beautiful - from chubby-cheeked infants to Hollywood stars like Angelina Jolie," said Pessa. 

The UT Southwestern Medical Center study appeared in the June 2008 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, nearly 8,000 cheek implants were performed in 2007 by plastic surgeons. Also last year, close to 47,000 fat injections and 1.1 million injections with hyaluronic acid fillers were performed. 

Dr. Rod Rohrich, chairman of plastic surgery at UT Southwestern and lead author of the study, said the anatomic fat cheek compartment completely changes how society looks at facial aging. "The process to correct facial aging is now dramatically changed," he said. "No longer do we remove fat without pre-op analysis or merely lift the cheek; we must now lift and fill the face to restore a natural youthful, unoperated appearance." 

An ongoing project at UT Southwestern plastic surgeons is to better map the fat compartments in the face and body. Dr. Pessa said research to identify specific fat compartments for surgeons to target helps give more predictable results in the ongoing fight against facial aging. 

"Adding volume rather than lifting is not a revolutionary concept in plastic surgery. But the idea that restoring volume to deep cheek fat will affect so many areas of the face is a breakthrough in our understanding of how to better treat facial aging," said Dr. Pessa.

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