Yves-Gérard Illouz (also known as Gérard Illiouz; September 12, 1929 – January 21, 2015) was a French surgeon who developed safer methods of liposuction. He was a co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

Early life and education

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Illouz was born in Oran, at the time of his birth part of the colony of French Algeria.[1] He studied in France, earning a bachelor's degree in arts and philosophy and in 1968 a medical degree as General Surgeon from the Medical College of Paris.

Career

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In 1972 Illouz was a co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières.[2][3]

In the late 1970s, Illouz developed a safer and easier method of liposuction.[4] His "Illouz Method", introduced in 1982[5] and first published in Annales de Chirurgie Plastique in 1984,[1] was a "wet method" using blunt cannulas, rather than sharp, and of smaller size than previously, in order to minimise bleeding while injecting saline solution into the subcutaneous fat deposits, breaking up the fat for extraction by suction.[4][6] He referred to his method of aspiration as "collassoplasty".[1] He published La Sculpture chirurgicale par Lipoplastie in 1988. He was not admitted to the French society of plastic surgeons until 1989.[1]

In 2010, he established the Illouz Foundation for the study of adipose-derived stem cell therapy.[1]

Personal life

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Illouz had two sons.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Riccardo F. Mazzola, "the Master Innovator of the Last Century", editorial, Journal of Craniofacial Surgery 26.3, May 2015, p. 605, doi:10.1097/SCS.0000000000001830.
  2. ^ Laurence Binet and Martin Saulnier, Médecins Sans Frontières, Evolution of an International Movement: Associative History 1971–2011, [Geneva]: Médecins Sans Frontières, 2019, p. 24.
  3. ^ "Who We Are", Médecins Sans Frontières, retrieved September 19, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Rhoda S. Narins and Lawrence M. Field, "Obituary: Yves Gerard Illouz, MD, 1929 to 2015", Dermatologic Surgery 41.5, May 2015, pp. 648–49, doi:10.1097/DSS.0000000000000323.
  5. ^ Ananya Mandal, "History of Liposuction", News-Medical.Net, February 26, 2019.
  6. ^ Elisa Bellini, Michele P. Grieco and Edoardo Raposio, "A journey through liposuction and liposculture: Review", Annals of Medicine Surgery 24, December 2017, 53–60, PMID 29158895.

Further reading

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  • À la recherche d'Aphrodite: mémoires d'un Pygmalion, Lyon, 2012, ISBN 9782355089640. Autobiography.