Dermal grafting for a patient with scleroderma - Case report

Scleroderma is a connective tissue disorder which includes fibrosis of the skin. Facial skin contraction leads to loss of forehead, periorbital, and nasolabial wrinkling and at the same time causes radial furrows around the contracted oral opening (microstomia). The lips become retracted. We describe a 41 year old lady whose upper lip was treated by free dermal graft and injection of fat to improve her perioral aesthetic appearance. The skin was taken from the right submammary fold and the fat was obtained from the abdomen by liposuction. Excess fat was stored in a sterile container at -70 degrees C for future use. The patient made a satisfactory recovery and has asked for her lower lip to be treated in the same way.