MONDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- In selected patients with scalp scars, polyamide hair fiber implantation may be an effective treatment to help hide the scar, according to the results of a study published in the January issue of Dermatologic Surgery. The technique is not currently approved for use in the United States.
Mariangela Santiago, M.D., of the Hospital for Face Defects in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues evaluated data from 10 hair restoration practitioners who tested polyamide hair fiber implantation for scalp scars on 54 scars in 44 patients. During implantation, a device is used to introduce individual knotted polyamide fibers into the galeal space. The implants are temporary and repeated at six and 12 months to replace fallen fibers.
The researchers found no complications in 49 scars (90.7 percent), mild adverse outcomes in four scars (7.4 percent) and a moderately adverse outcome in one scar (1.9 percent). They also found that the most common side effects were minor skin reactions, sebum plugs and hyperseborrhea, and that the average yearly fiber fall rate was 20 percent.
"Implantation with these devices is still in its infancy," the authors write. "Results collected by the authors and by other hair transplant practitioners, however, give hope that future clinical trials in the United States and in Canada, performed according to a more standardized clinical protocol and with a larger number of patients, will further demonstrate the efficacy of this treatment."
One of the co-authors is a consultant to Medicap, Ltd., the manufacture of the Biofibre used in the study.
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