Evaluation of hair regrowth in men with androgenetic alopecia treated with autologous platelet-rich plasma

Introduction: Androgenetic alopecia, the most common form of hair loss in men, is associated with significant distress and lowered self-es-teem. Various medical, surgical, and miscellaneous therapeutic modali-ties are available for management. Autologous platelet-rich plasma has yielded encouraging results in androgenetic alopecia. Objective: To evaluate the application of easily available techniques to prepare autologous platelet-rich plasma and study its effect in promo-ting hair regrowth. Material and methods: After ethical clearance, 30 men were enrolled in this prospective, interventional, non-randomized study. After baseline evaluation, autologous platelet-rich plasma was injected on pre -anaesthe-tised scalp. 20 ml of whole blood yielded 2 ml of platelet-rich plasma by double centrifugation. A 4-5 times increased platelet concentration from baseline was obtained. Six sessions done at 3-week intervals. The last fol-low-up was taken 3 months after the last platelet-rich plasma session. An evaluator assessed the improvement by pre-and post-treatment photo-graphs, trichoscopic parameters, and basic and specific classification of androgenetic alopecia. The patient subjective score was also recorded. Results: The mean age of participants was 27.47 years. The most re-sponsive area was frontal (p = 0.001). The hair-shaft thickness impro-ved by a mean of 45.11%. The mean number of hairs per follicular unit increased by 31.79%. A mean gain of 6.53 follicular units was obtained. 53.3% of patients sustained benefits from platelet-rich plasma. Evalu-ator assessment score overall was +5 on the Jaeschke scale of-7 to +7. The overall patient subjective score was 2 on a scale from 0 to 4. Conclusions: Autologous platelet-rich plasma causes an increase in hair shaft thickness and numbers of hairs per follicular unit in men with an-drogenetic alopecia with no major side effects. It can be prepared easily in the dermatological office setting.