Morphological description of hypothetical cellulite starting unit. The first step to explain cellulite development

Introduction: Cellulite is a complex pathology that affects about 85% of women. The origin of cellulite is poorly understood, even if some studies describe different hypotheses based on the observation of subcutaneous architecture, vascular and lymphatic patterns. Material and methods: in this work an ultra-structural description of cellulite specimens, harvested from fifteen healthy women affected by first degree cellulite, was provided. Specimens were harvested from trochanter, after local anaesthesia using punch biopsy. Samples were fixated, immediately after biopsy, in glutaraldehyde 2% and processed for electron microscopy. Results: with scanning and transmission electron microscopy it…