Hair transplantation in scarring alopecia is a surgical approach to dealing with hair loss caused by various forms of cicatricial alopecia. Conditions such as Lichen Planopilaris cause inflammation, which damages hair follicles and leads to permanent hair loss and scarring on the scalp. During the hair transplant, follicles are taken from unaffected areas and transplanted into the scarred areas. The success of this type of hair transplant depends highly on the suitability of the donor area and the extent of scarring.
Cicatricial Alopecia which leads to permanent damage of the stem cells in the hair follicle bulge causes irreversible hair loss and negatively affects self-image and self-esteem of the patient.
Cicatricial alopecias are divided into two main groups as ”primary” and “secondary” cicatricial alopecias. Primary cicatricial alopecia consists a diverse group of inflammatory diseases that has an unknown etiology.
They lead to permanent loss of both hair shafts and visible follicular ostia and cause pathological replacement of follicular structures with fibrous tissue. The secondary cicatricial alopecias can be caused by almost any cutaneous inflammatory processes of the scalp skin or by physical trauma, which damages the skin and skin appendages.
Current therapeutic regimens aim to slow or inhibit the progression of the disease with local or systemic immunomodulation. First-line treatments are topical steroids, such as fluocinonide, and clobetasol lotion or cream, and intralesional triamcinolone acetonide [4].
Retinoids, hydroxychloroquine, and mycophenolate are commonly used to adjunct corticosteroids and decrease inflammation in rapidly progressive disease. Hair transplants are used by many patients as a treatment option.
FUE method is gold standard hair transplantation method in cicatricial alopecia.
If patient’s disease is not active and not causing Scarring Alopecia ▶ hair transplantation may be done.
Type of cicatricial alopesia, availability of donor hair, scalp laxity, the patient’s healing characteristics, vascular supply, and the location of the subsequent scar are important for good results.
Dr Civas has performed successful hair transplant operations on patients with primary and secondary cicatricial alopecia in hair restoration center in Turkey. As a result of these challenging and specialized operations, high patient satisfaction has been achieved. He also compiled his successful cases as a case series and shared them with the hair transplantation experts.