Clinical experience with hair transplantation for secondary cicatricial alopecias

Background: Hair transplantation for the treatment of secondary cicatricial alopecia has recently become a more widely used technique. Objective: The aims of this study were to evaluate the results of use of hair transplantation surgery in patients with secondary cicatricial alopecia, to compare the results of the procedure with regard to different etiologies and to evaluate patient satisfaction. Patients and Methods: Forty-five patients with a definitive clinical diagnosis of secondary cicatricial alopecia were included in this retrospective study. Patients' characteristics were obtained retrospectively from medical records. The percentage of amelioration of cicatricial alopecia and patient satisfaction was obtained by interviewing patients. Results: Thirty-nine patients (86.7%) were satisfied and very satisfied with the procedure. While all patients who underwent hair transplantation for the treatment of facial cicatricial alopecic areas were satisfied, patients with hypertrophic scars were not satisfied significantly. Patient satisfaction was correlated to the percentage of amelioration of cicatricial alopecia. While patients with permanent alopecia as a result of developmental defects were satisfied the most, patients with postoperative and posttraumatic scars were satisfied the least. There was no difference between two different hair transplantation methods with regard to patient satisfaction. Conclusion: Hair transplantation done directly into scar tissue could be the first line treatment in selected cases with secondary cicatricial alopecia as this method is less traumatic and easier to perform in comparison with other surgical treatment methods.