الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract SUMMARY emale pattern hair loss (FPHL) is the most common hair loss disorder in women. The importance of this disease comes from the intense emotional distress and disrupted selfimage caused by the hair loss where there is progressive nonscarring replacement of terminal hair follicles over the frontal and vertex regions by miniaturized follicles, which leads progressively to a visible reduction in hair density. Treatment of FPHL remains a challenge as no treatment is either completely curative or preventive. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) provides an option for patients recalcitrant to the currently approved therapies; minoxidil and finasteride. Moreover, with the annoying daily applications required for the proper use of minoxidil and the growing concern over potential finasteride-induced side-effects, an additional treatment would be advantageous. After centrifugation of the whole blood, platelets can be isolated; growth factors can be concentrated and injected into the hair follicle and surrounding area. Evidence has suggested that these concentrated growth factors can promote angiogenesis and vascularization, increase the duration of the hair growth phase and accelerate hair regrowth. As there are many methods for the preparation of PRP, the most suitable for AGA therapy is not yet clear. To isolate F Summary 94 PRP, some laboratories use a single-spin method with success, however many use a double-spin method. Also, there is a lack of consensus regarding the mode of preparation, addition of activators, centrifugation time and speed, platelet concentration attained, and volume of blood and PRP used. Our study aimed to compare the efficacy between single and double spin PRP injections in treatment of female pattern hair loss and to assess the relationship between the concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the PRP preparation and the treatment results obtained. This study was done on 15 female patients with FPHL. All were subjected to detailed history taking and examination to exclude any patients with signs of hyperandrogenism. Each patient was subjected to intradermal injection of PRP (prepared by double-spin method) into the right half of the scalp, in addition to intradermal injection of PRP (prepared by singlespin method) into the left half of the scalp in the form of three treatment sessions three weeks apart. Furthermore, VEGF concentration was measured using ELISA kit in both the singlespin and double-spin prepared PRP before and after activation with calcium gluconate in the first treatment session and only after activation in the third treatment session. Evaluation of treatment response was done through comparing patients’ global photographs, assessment of patients’ satisfaction and folliscopic assessment before and after treatment. Summary 95 The obtained data were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Our results showed clinically significant improvement by comparing patients’ photographs in most of the treated patients and high mean patients’ satisfaction with low PRP’s adverse effects profile. In addition, folliscopy revealed increased median terminal hair density in both the right and left halves of the scalp following treatment sessions. However, there was only statistically significant change of the terminal hair density in the right half of the scalp following treatment sessions. This suggests that the double-spin prepared PRP could yield better results in the treatment of FPHL than the single-spin method. VEGF concentration did not differ significantly between double-spin and single-spin prepared PRP, also it did not differ significantly upon calcium activation. In conclusion, PRP is an effective treatment modality for FPHL. Double-spin prepared PRP could yield better results in the treatment of FPHL than the single-spin method. Yet, further studies discussing different PRP preparation protocols and involving a larger number of cases are needed to minimize statistical errors and to detect the most accurate PRP preparation method with the greatest yield of growth factors. |