Yves Gérard
Illouz, MD
Liposuction
- "sucking off fat" sounds rather unsavoury - has revolutionised body-,
contour- and silhouette surgery. Pioneers have invented various scratching
and cutting methods to remove the unwanted fat zones. Joseph Schrudde in
Cologne, Ulrich Kesselring in Lausanne, Giorgio Fischer in Rome. Yet the
great breakthrough is associated with the name of the French surgeon Yves
Gérard Illouz from Paris.
While G.
Fischer had already worked with a vacuum machine and U. Kesselring was the
first one to use vacuum in 1972 to take off fat which had previously been
cut off and smashed (while his boss was taking a holiday) - he once said to
me: "You know, I would not want to be remembered by a simple method like
this one." -, it was Illouz who believed in the new method most
passionately. Yet Illouz kept away from other people's experiments with it.
The
breakthrough came in 1977 after Illouz remembered his surgery teacher
Bergareb who once said "My finger is the best instrument". And indeed, using
one's finger for preparation can prevent secondary bleeding. Illouz asked an
instrument manufacturer to prepare a hollow cannula with a blunt, rounded
tip, like a finger, and with a hole located 1-2 cm beneath and sideways to
the tip.
The real
secret was in fact a procedure called tunnelling, or ‚discontinuous
undermining' by which neither the vascular nor the nervous system are
dissected. Thus secondary bleedings can often be reduced to a minimum. The
crucial discovery however, apart from the use of vacuum, was that the
wounded skin parts were contracting. We have seen the same effect with
lacerations: the fringes of the skin gape. Illouz called this phenomenon "collapsoplasty".
Surgeons have always fought against this characteristic of the skin in order
to be able to close the retracting fringes of the wound. It took this one
person's brain before the advantage of this phenomenon to surgery could
actually be acknowledged.
How natural
do the following terms sound to our ears today: blunt tunnelling,
adipoaspiration, skin retraction. We are no longer amazed by the use of
electricity or the telephone. In retrospect, all those products of genius
seem to be natural developments. Yet a genius brain had to think of them
first. Illouz' personal motto is inspired by a word by Sainte Beuve: "Great
things are accomplished only when tackled with passion".
Illouz
spent five years in his private office (1977-1982) passionately working on
this one method he strongly believed in. He could not take advantage of any
university related equipment. Nobody was as strict a critic to his early
work than he was for himself in his pioneering book "BODY SCULPTURING BY
LIPOPLASTY" which was published in 1989. He claims to have written the book
for both didactic and exorcistic reasons - casting out the demons of
creativity that haunted him.
His method
was ready to be presented to the public. Today we know: it was about to
change the world of aesthetic plastic surgery fundamentally and to widen the
spectrum of every aesthetic plastic surgeon worldwide. After all it has been
the most frequently applied beauty surgery method over the last 10 years on
the whole planet. In 1982, when Illouz attended an official congress in
France and stepped on a podium to give his talk, a majority of the audience
signalled their protest by leaving the auditorium. They had heard of the
kind of "witchcraft" this "pied noir" was developing. It does not take much
to imagine the pain that comes with such a disgrace, with the experience of
a collective rejection.
The French
term "pied noir" refers to French people born in Algeria. This might partly
explain Illouz' character, his insubordination to "scientific bourgoisie",
his pioneering spirit, his readiness to overcome common barriers in order to
reach new territories. The reason for all limits, for all frontiers is that
they be overcome. "Many paths will turn out as dead ends, others will open
up new possibilities", Illouz writes. Metaphysics looks beyond physics.
Illouz was
a student at Europe's oldest medical faculty in Montpellier. In front of the
university building there is a statue of a former medical faculty student,
Rablais ("Gargantua et Pantagruel") at the bottom of which it says: Doctor
of Medicine and Philosophy. "I too want to acquire both of those titles,"
the young Illouz swore to himself. He received his medical degree in Paris;
from the Sorbonne he received a diploma in history, philosophy and
psychology. He was taught surgery by various important figures of our field
such as Henry Redon and Henry Mondor. The latter he likes to quote by
saying: "Failure is more instructive than success". Illouz has meanwhile
become an acknowledged plastic surgery specialist in his homecountry.
France, the
"grand nation", has often proved resistant to new ideas, especially when
coming from their own people. Illouz, with regard to his devastating
experience at the congress, might find consolation by looking at the example
of Albert Einstein: Einstein apparently presented his theory first at the
Institut Polytechnique Francais - with no success. Then he went on to the
Polytechnicum in Zurich. The rest is history.
Thank God
there is a higher justice which takes effect on history. In our case it
presented itself in the form of a resolution by Mark Gorney, president of
the American specialist association, from 1982 in which he and the managing
board agreed to send a "Blue Ribbon Committee" to Lausanne and to Paris to
inspect Kesselring's and Illouz' new surgery methods and to conduct
scientific evaluations.
The
committee consisted of 14 highly acknowledged plastic surgeons from all over
the US. They called themselves the "task force" and travelled first to
Lausanne, then to Paris. Whatever one might think of the "American way of
life", nothing can be said against the American ‚freedom of thought', ‚fair
play' and an openness towards new ideas. The "task force" concluded that the
use of Kesselring's method was limited (to correct riding breeches or saddle
bag deformities) whereas Illouz' technique could be applied on all parts of
the body.
Kesselring
and Illouz were invited to tour the US giving talks and teaching workshops
to demonstrate their new techniques. Ulli Kesselring told me later: "We were
like a travelling circus." Illouz soon received invitations from all over
the world: South America, Asia, eventually his method was accepted all
across Europe, and even in France. Yet the appreciation came only after his
skills were considered "prophetic" in the US. In 2001, Illouz gave a
ceremonial address at the ASAPS-meeting in New York. When he finished he
received standing ovations from the audience. The breathtaking triumphant
advance of his method was complete.
In 1989,
Illouz published his pioneering book. In the same year, as chair of the
French-American Society, he invited all colleagues to Paris to celebrate the
200th anniversary of the French Revolution and the election of the first
President to the United States. At the end of the evening the whole group
visited the famous "Crazy Horse Saloon". One guest demonstrated Illouz'
technique of a simultaneous stomach- and upper-thigh-lift on the body of one
of the striptease dancers by using a felt tip.
His
scientific achievements (apart from liposuction he also initiated body fat
transfer) are intriguing, and so is his personality: He never lost the child
in him. His curiosity, his humour, his naivety and passion, his playfulness
and especially his mental flexibility have kept him young. At 70 years of
age, he seems a perfect match with his beloved 30-year old wife and his
7-year old son.
Our first
encounter however did not raise high expectations. It was at the European
Congress in Lisbon in June 1997. A heated discussion took place within the
section of liposuction. The "guru" had given his talk, other participants
had made their presentations; and I gave a report about my experience with
ultra sound. The "grand seignieur" sensed trouble and launched an attack. It
has to be said that a French ultra sound machine had caused burns and other
wounds because of technical deficiencies. As a result, the French government
had prohibited ultra sound for liposuction. However, a grand plastic surgeon
from Turin, Michelle Zocchi, constructed an ultra sound machine which
reduces bleedings during liposuction considerably. Zocchi's invention was a
great success in the US.
Since I had
been using Zocchi's machine without complications, even Illouz had to accept
my arguments eventually: "In terms of driving you cannot compare a tank with
a Mercedes." We were scientific enemies, so to say.
We met
again on numerous congresses. I never denied my admiration for him as a
legend in our field. Perhaps he saw me as a younger colleague who was being
nice and honest to him. I credited him for being able to change his mind on
the basis of scientific evidence.
Illouz with his beloved Claire
There were funny
encounters, too. As chairman of a workshop that was held in the monastery of
Banz, Bavaria, he was supposed to announce the speakers. A heavy smoker, he
was late to return to the podium after one person had finished his talk. He
started laughing when I addressed him quietly: "Mr. Illouz are you a
chairman or a walkman?"
In September 1999, an ISAPS
course took place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Many participants visited the
nearby Chobe National Park in Botswana beforehand on a photo safari. A land
rover was coming towards our vehicle. Even from the distance I recognised
him and started shouting: ""Bonjour Monsieur Illouz, comment allez vouz mon
chèr frère?"
A man sitting next to me
said: "Why Illouz, I am Illouz!" - "Yes, but that person in that car is the
famous plastic surgeon from Paris - Yves Gérard Illouz," I replied. - "And I
am Yves Illouz, publisher from Lausanne," my travel companion introduced
himself. It has to be mentioned that the name "Illouz" is rather rare in
France. During dinner on the same evening the two Illouz' meet at my table
and found out that their Algerian grandmothers were sisters. Without my
shouting they would have stayed at the same hotel but would never have met.
Both parties invited me to a drink.
Out of an almost-enmity
developed a friendship. I much prefer former enemies to former friends. I
wanted to write about him in "Aesthetic News" and was invited to his garden,
his apartment which both resemble his character: creative interior, playful
cascade-galleries, many, many books, many paintings. Heaven, those
paintings: Chagall, Bottero, Magritte, Lempicka ... How did he get hold of
them? "Well," he said, "I bought them when they were still unknown."
Gérard invites me and our
wives to the Hotel Ritz Club for a refined dinner with soft music in the
background. I open my small booklet during dessert.
-favourite painter - René
Magritte
-favourite composer - Claude
Debussy
-characteristics I like in
other people - curiosity, humour, activity, initiative, non-commanding
-the deepest point in life
- when the Nazis took members of my family into custody
-the happiest point in life
- meeting Claire was the happiest moment in my life. She came to me for a
liposuction. I looked at her and said: "No, let's rather drink a glass of
champagne together".
-why are so many people
against aesthetic surgery - if they are ugly, they hate the beautiful girl
because they cannot have her.
-hobbies - hunting,
sleeping, diving. Hunting is the man's oldest activity; I love the
difficulties and the excitement.
-the most beautiful thing
on earth - the female face is the greatest source for symbols. Most
beautiful are Claire's eyes. Somebody must have filled her eyes with two
drops from heaven.
In his preface to the book
"Body Sculpturing by Lipoplasty", Yves T. De Villers writes: “Dr. Illouz is
a historian, a man of letters; Albert Camus was his teacher. He is an artist
and a painter; Jean Cocteau was his personal friend. In addition to having
fabulous art collection, he sketches, he created all the illustrations for
his books. An accomplished musician and composer, he also plays the piano.
He is an extremely sensitive human being, honest to the point of naivety. He
is generous and diligent and he travels a lot. He has a sparkling mind, with
ideas exploding like fireworks. Sometimes a dreamer with his head amongst
the stars, he is too brilliant to follow the usual path... He is a
discoverer, a land clearer, who gives other his ideas that they may built
upon them."
Illouz’
revolutionary book - 1989
In October 2003, I invited
our good friend Gérard for the Beethoven festival in Bonn. In two days we
attended THREE concerts ranging from Mozart to Schumann, from Debussy to
Jazz music. It was the unbelievable baritone Quasthoff however who made the
greatest impression on him ..... I would never have been able to attend so
many concerts in such a short time by myself. Illouz is unremitting. On a
photograph that was taken of him while he was sitting in on a surgery in our
clinic, I drew a halo above his head. Symbolically speaking he has earned
it. Although I would not want to slip into his shoes, I do not want to have
his mind. I would always choose to have an occasional rest.
As an hommage to this
great, multifaceted man, Yves-Gérard Illouz, I made a list of personalities,
real and fictitious characters which each in their own way remind me of
Gérard. A line of thought,
like a "COMPOSITE PORTRAIT":
JULES VERNE - LEONARDO DA
VINCI - LOUIS PASTEUR - AMUNDSEN - AVICENA - ALEXANDRE DUMAS - CLAUDE
BERNARD - CHARLEY CHAPLIN - CLAUDE DEBUSSY - ALBERT EINSTEIN - LOUIS DE
FINES - ROBIN HOOD - HENRY TOULOUSE-LAUTREC - ASTERIX - LANCE ARMSTRONG -
LOUIS ARMSTRONG - PETER PAN - RENÉ DESCARTES - LEONARD BERNSTEIN - RABLAIS -
AUGUST RODIN...
What remains to be said
about this aesthete, the "belle esprit":
CHAPEAU GÉRARD, mon chèr frère
ILLOUZ-ioniste!
P.S. This text will be
distributed at a symposium of LIPOPLASTY UNIVERSITY in Austin, Texas, at the
end of August 2004. Illouz is Lord Chancellor, Bob Ersek is Dean. I am
curious whether Gérard's reaction will be: "Everything is an illusion. The
previous sentence including?"
D.Panfilov
Liposuction - globally the most frequent aesthetic surgery of the last
decade
