This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
PRP improves hair density, caliber in women with androgenetic alopecia
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
CHICAGO — Platelet-rich plasma significantly improved hair density and caliber among women with androgenetic alopecia, according to data presented at the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery annual meeting.
“Platelet-rich plasma is obviously a very hot topic at the moment, but most of the studies have been done in men, so we thought we’d contribute to the literature by looking at women,” Matthew J. Lin, MD, a dermatologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said during his presentation.
Thirty women with androgenetic alopecia — confirmed by clinical/trichoscopic exam and laboratory testing — were included in the prospective, randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial and randomly assigned to subdermal platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or placebo saline injections at weeks 0, 4 and 8. Lin and colleagues measured changes in hair density (hair/cm2) and caliber (mm), as well as blinded global assessment at weeks 8 and 24, as the main outcome measures.
Twenty-eight women, with similar baseline characteristics, completed treatment. Compared to baseline, there was improvement in mean hair density in the PRP group vs. the placebo group at week 8 (+71.1 vs. -26.7 hairs/cm2, p<0.01) and week 24 (+105.9 vs. -52.4 hairs/cm2, p<0.01). Compared to baseline, there was improvement in mean hair caliber in the PRP group vs. the placebo group at week 8 (+0.0043 vs. -0.0034 mm, p<0.01) and week 24 (+0.0053 vs. -0.0060 mm, p<0.01). Blinded global photographic assessment indicated that 57% of PRP patients vs. 7% of saline patients improved at week 24 from baseline (p<0.01).
According to Lin, mild headache and scalp tightness occurred among 50% of patients in the PRP group but this resolved within 24 hours. There were no long-term side effects.
Lin highlighted limitations of the study, including the small sample size, limited follow-up and the fact that most patients were white or Hispanic.
“PRP given at monthly intervals to women with androgenetic alopecia is a reasonable treatment,” Lin said. “Further studies are needed with longer follow-up to determine the best way to integrate this treatment into hair loss therapy.”
Lin acknowledged the contributions of his colleagues at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Drs. Dubin, Leight, Torbeck, Burton, Farberg and Khorasani. Lin also acknowledged the support of the ASDS and Drs. Alastair and Jean Carruthers. – by Stacey L. Adams
Reference:
Lin MJ, Dubin DP, Leight HM, Torbeck RL, Burton WB, Farberg AS, Khorasani H. The effect of platelet-rich plasma on female pattern hair loss. Presented at: American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Annual Meeting; Oct. 24-27, 2019; Chicago.
Disclosures: The study was funded by Eclipse Aesthetics, LLC. Lin was a recipient of the ASDS Drs. Alastair and Jean Carruthers Award.