Health Screening is also of importance to the cosmetic and plastic surgeon.  When evaluating a patient for a breast augmentation or reduction, for example, abnormalities in the breast can be detected. As a routine, patients are given a brief physical exam and a complete blood work-up to ensure their readiness for surgery.  Through this process, we screen for other disease processes which may be present.  CA-125, for example, is a tumor marker that is more often present in ovarian cancer, a notoriously difficult cancer to detect in early stages. An elevated level alkaline phosphatase level is often diagnostic of neoplastic disease, but unfortunately, at this stage, it is likely to indicate distant metastases to bone.

It's important to remember that, although patients may present at our office because of a desire to modify a specific part of the body, the wise physician is one who takes a holistic approach, considering the whole body and all of its organ systems.