Sculptra continues to correct cheek wrinkles up to 1 year

Key takeaways:

• At month 7, 66.2% of Sculptra-treated patients saw improvement vs. 38.6% of the no-treatment cohort.
• These results were maintained through month 9 (70.6%) and month 12 (71.6%).

Injectable Sculptra poly-L-lactic acid treatments significantly reduced the appearance of moderate to severe cheek wrinkles, according to a study.

Approved in April 2023 for the correction of cheek wrinkles, Sculptra poly-L-lactic acid injectable implant (PLLA-SCA; Galderma) is a plant-derived alpha-hydroxy-acid polymer that “gradually stimulates collagen formation, over the course of several treatments, to provide semi-permanent correction of facial volume loss associated with aging,” Sabrina Fabi, MD, FAAD, FAACS, of Cosmetic Laser Dermatology in San Diego, and colleagues wrote.

Fabi and colleagues conducted a randomized, evaluator-blinded study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PLLA-SCA among immune-competent adults compared with a no-treatment control.

Patients aged older than 21 years with moderate to severe cheek wrinkles were randomly assigned 2:1 to receive a 150 mg injection of PLLA-SCA (8 mL reconstitution in sterile water for injection) immediately followed by 1 mL of lidocaine hydrochloride 2% injection or no treatment.

Ninety-seven patients received a mean 15.29 mL injection on day 1 of the study. Following this initial injection, some patients required additional treatments: 95 patients received a mean 15.26 mL injection in month 1, 86 a mean 15.1 mL injection in month 2 and 67 a mean 15.17 mL injection in month 3.

According to the Galderma Cheek Wrinkle Scale (GCWS), a higher proportion of patients treated with PLLA-SCA saw improvement of their cheek wrinkles at a resting state compared with those that did not receive treatment.

At month 7, 66.2% of PLLA-SCA-treated patients saw improvement vs. 38.6% of the no-treatment cohort (P = .0043). At the month 9 and 12 follow-ups, the proportion of patients that saw improvement increased to 70.6% and 71.6%, respectively, compared with 31.1% and 26.1% in the no-treatment group (P < .0001 for both).

The blinded-investigators also reported improvements in skin radiance, skin tightening and jawline contour in more than 95%, 88% and 85% of PLLA-treated patients, respectively.

While no patients reported serious adverse events, 20 patients did experience treatment-related/injection procedure-related adverse events, three of which were moderate in severity. Most patients also experienced post-treatment tenderness (93.5%), bruising (93.5%), swelling (87.1%) and pain (83.9%).

“Injectable PLLA-SCA treatments, administered using an immediate injection protocol, were well tolerated and provided significant reductions in the severity of moderate or severe cheek wrinkles,” the authors concluded.