IVO
PITANGUY- REMEMBERING A GIANT IN PLASTIC SURGERY
In Malaysia and
many Asian countries, the name Dr Ivo Pitanguy may never ring the bell in the
world of plastic surgery. But in other parts of the globe, especially in South
America and the United States, there were two big excuses jetsetters tend to
give when they wanted to the leave the town for Rio de Janeiro – either they
are heading to party at the bikini-clad Copacabana beach or a discreet nip and
tuck at Clinica Ivo Pitanguy. With a popularity in Brazil only eclipsed by the
footballer Pele, Pitanguy was Brazilian’s gift to the world.
I am
extremely blessed to have had the opportunity (the only Malaysian surgeon in
history) to complete my plastic surgery residency at 38th Infirmary Santa Casa
de Misericórdia Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery/Ivo Pitanguy
Institute in Rio de Janeiro. Apart from working closely with Prof Ivo Pitanguy,
I also learnt a lot from many fine professors and surgeons in Brazil in the art
of plastic surgery not just in aesthetic surgery but also in hand surgery,
burns, cleft surgery and other reconstructive work. Below is the link of my interview with Ivo Pitanguy.
WHO WAS
IVO PITANGUY?
Ivo
Pitanguy, MD, was born in 1926 in Minais Gerais, Brazil. The son of a general
surgeon, Pitanguy followed in his father’s footsteps. He studied under JJ
Longacre, MD, of Cincinnati; Marc Iselin, MD, of Paris; and Sir Archibald
McIndoe and his cousin, Sir Harold Gillies, in the United Kingdom.
Upon his return
to Brazil, Pitanguy set up the first hand-surgery service in Latin America at
the 19th Infirmary at the Santa Casa General Hospital in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. He also became the head of the Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery
at Souza Aguiar Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In 1960,
Pitanguy opened the 38th Infirmary Santa Casa de Misericórdia Department of
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Rio de Janeiro. The 38th Infirmary, in
conjunction with the Clinica Ivo Pitanguy, became a centre of excellence for
the training of international plastic surgeons.
Truly ahead
of his time, Pitanguy pioneered innovative techniques in plastic surgery and
founded a formal residency programme to disseminate and share his vast
knowledge. At the 38th Infirmary Pitanguy and his residents frequently dealt
with disfigurements among the poor, for example treating the surviving victims
of a fire at a circus near Rio in 1961 that claimed the lives of over 500
people. Pitanguy believed that aesthetic surgery is not separate from
reconstructive surgery and that even the poor had a right to treatment. At the
38th Infirmary, aesthetic surgery was formally taught and given equal
importance to other reconstructive work such as burns, congenital defects and
hand surgery. Many surgeries were heavily subsidised and even free for patients
unable to afford payment.
Pitanguy's Ligament
Pitanguy's Island Flap Technique for Prominent Ears
Pitanguy's Line of the TemporoFacial Nerve
Pitanguy's Breast Reduction
By the 1970s
Pitanguy had made Rio a mecca for plastic surgery. Pitanguy famously treated
the burns suffered by the Formula One driver Niki Lauda in a crash in 1976.
Known then as the ‘Michelangelo of the scalpel’, Pitanguy was possibly the most
famous plastic surgeon in the world throughout the 1980s and 90s. His client
list was rumoured to include Zsa Zsa Gabor, François Mitterand, Sophia Loren,
Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Onassis, Frank Sinatra, Ivana Trump
and even Tom Cruise. Pitanguy had invented the "Brazilian butt lift,"
which involved removing fat from other parts of your body and stuffing it in
your butt. This was the beginning of the frenzy which persists until today for
women wanting buttocks like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian.
Pitanguy & Tom Cruise
Pitanguy & Naomi Campbell
As Pitanguy's reputation grew, he had an increasing number of celebrity patients but also maintained a weekly operating list for the less well-off or celebrated. One of his quotes was that "Even the poor have a right to be beautiful too." Pitanguy passed away from a heart attack one day after carrying the Olympic torch. His memory and contribution to the field of plastic surgery shall live on.
“I feel
today there is a notion of imposing one culture’s concept of beauty onto
another’s. Beauty has been manipulated by marketing. In my opinion, one can be
short and one can be tall, but harmonious in many different ways. Everyone has
a different biotype. You don’t have to change your biotype to be beautiful. You
can aim for a harmonious look with your biotype. A woman doesn’t need to be
thin to be beautiful with aesthetic harmony. Ultimately, beauty is a sense of
well-being.
As plastic surgeons, we don’t have the ink of the painter, the stone of the sculptor; we don’t have the vocabulary of the poet. We have the creativity and the interaction with others, and with that we learn what we can do, what we can improve, but always acknowledge our limitations.”
Ivo Pitanguy
(1923-2016)
Additional reading
https://www.bmj.com/content/330/7499/s190
(2) W
Magazine reports why Pitanguy is the Michealangelo of the Scalpel.
https://www.wmagazine.com/story/ivo-pitanguy/
(3) Chicago
Tribune examines how Pitanguy manages professional jealousy of his success.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-05-23-9602030069-story.html
(4) People
Magazine coverage on a prime-time Ivo Pitanguy in the late 70s
https://people.com/archive/dr-ivo-pitanguy-of-rio-lifts-jet-set-faces-and-spirits-vol-7-no-3/
Chief Resident days at the 38th Infirmary after the Grand Rounds
#ivopitanguy #enfermeira38 #iip #cirurgiaplastia #pitanguy #plasticsurgery #aestheticsurgery #riodejaneiro #brazil #plasticsurgeon #skincheckmalaysia88 #gemclinic #drleesengkhoo
Follow us at http://www.facebook.com/skincheckmalaysia
and on Instragram #skincheckmalaysia88
http://www.skincheckmalaysia.com
https://www.gem.clinic/doctor/view/9
Sincerely Yours,
Dr Lee Seng Khoo
