Treatment of alopecia cicatrisata by autologous fat grafting combined with follicular unit transplantation

CHEN Zhixiong; YANG Juanmin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-7040.2025.09.012

Abstract：Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of autologous fat transplantation combined with hair follicle unit trans-plantation for repairing alopecia cicatrisata.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 29 patients with alopecia cicatrisata who sought medical attention at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 2020 to January 2023.The authors used suction technology to extract granular fat from the posterior inner thigh or abdomen,and then filtered the fat with cotton pads before inject-ing it into the area below the scar.After a minimum interval of 3 months,the authors extracted hair follicle units from the healthy scalp at the occipital region and separate them before micro-needle puncture implantation in the scarred hair loss defect area.The authors observed the survival rate of transplanted hair follicle units and the repair effect at 1 year after operation,and collected patient satisfaction evalua-tions.Results The VSS scores for scalp scars after fat grafting surgery were lower at 3 months postoperatively.At 1 year follow-up after hair transplantation surgery,23 patients had their scalp completely covered,and 6 had their scalp basically covered.The survival rate of hair transplantation in scarred areas was 84.56％～89.01％,with an average of 85.55％.Twenty-eight patients expressed very high satisfaction with the operation,while 1 expressed basic satisfaction.Conclusion The combination of autologous fat transplantation and hair follicle u-nit transplantation for repairing alopecia cicatrisata has proven to be effective,with high patient satisfaction,and is worth clinical promotion.