Linda’s face is shocking but tech is incredible
Cosmetic surgeon defends technique
A PLASTIC surgeon has defended the cosmetic procedure that catwalk queen Linda Evangelista claims left her disfigured.
Dr Darren McKeown insisted the technology behind “fat freezing” is “incredible” despite the ex-supermodel’s claims it left her deformed.
The Glasgow-based expert said the problems she faced affected about one in 20,000 patients.
And he said images of the side effects suffered by the star from cryolipolysis were “shocking”.
Evangelista, 56, is set to start legal action against US firm Zeltiq, which developed CoolSculpting.
The treatment has been available in Scotland for about two years.
McKeown, 40, said: “CoolSculpting is an innovative technology that allows us to achieve spot fat reduction similar to liposuction but without surgery.
“The technology is incredible and on the whole, it is very effective and popular. The most serious complication is known as paradoxical adipose hyperplasia – or PAH – which is the complication Linda suffered from.
“With this complication, rather than shrinking, the fat becomes larger and has the opposite effect from what was desired.
“Official estimates of the frequency of this are put at somewhere around one in 20,000 patients. Side effects however are often under-reported, and I suspect that in the real world it is actually more frequent than this. “It is still rare but perhaps not quite as rare as the official figures suggest.” Evangelista claimed the procedure ruined her life. She said: “I was brutally disfigured. It left me permanently deformed, even after two painful, unsuccessful corrective surgeries. PAH not only destroyed my livelihood, it has sent me into a cycle of deep depression and self-loathing. In the process, I have become a recluse.” McKeown added: “The photographs that have been running in the Press this week have been shocking, although I do wonder if there is perhaps more to the story. “Like every medical procedure however, there is always a risk of complications.”