The Clinical Importance of the Fat Compartments in Midfacial Aging

SUMMARY: The recent identification of the facial fat compartments has greatly affected our understanding of midfacial aging. This article chronicles the discovery of these fat compartments including the shift of attention from a purely gravitational to a volumetric approach to facial aging and the series of methodologies attempted to ultimately define the anatomy of these compartments. The revived interest in volumetric facial rejuvenation including compartment-guided augmentation techniques is discussed. Lastly, the article discusses interesting distributional patterns noted in these fat compartments likely related to the different mechanical and biologic environments of the deep and superficial facial fat pads.