PRP for Treatment of Alopecia Areata

Alopecia Areata can heal without direct medical treatment.

 

Q:

Dr. Mohebi,

We have a 6-year old patient with severe form of Alopecia Areata.  The patient has undergone all the standard forms of treatment including scalp injections of steroids.  The patient has lost about 70% of the scalp hair.  Now that there has been no respond to any of the other treatment options, the patient’s father is inquiring about Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) for this patient.

My questions to your regarding PRP are:

  • Is this a process you offer at Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration?
  • Is this something that an Alopecia Areata patient as young as 6-years old should take? Thank you for your help.

 A:

 This is a great question.

Base on the information in your query it appears that this child has Alopecia Areata (AA) or its more severe form “Alopecia Capitis”.  Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disease that might progress to involve large areas of the scalp in some cases.  This disorder can improve spontaneously and without any treatment. When this does not occur a physician must monitor it and consider various approaches. There is no perfect treatment that can guarantee full recovery in resistant cases of AA.

PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) has been in the news in recent years.  PRP has been suggested for treatment of several types of hair loss conditions. However at this time, there is not sufficient level of solid evidence to prove its effectiveness for hair loss conditions.

Since Alopecia Areata may resolve spontaneously with no treatment in most cases, The few reports of the recovery of alopecia areata after PRP treatment may simply  be reflecting the spontaneous regression of the disease. These isolated instances do not definitively prove the positive effect of PRP in the treatment of AA.  A double blind study of comparison of the patients who were treated with PRP vs. Placebue is necessary to prove this claim.

As a researcher and hair restoration surgeon, I believe a well designed study is necessary to substantiate this claim for PRP. We at US Hair Restoration do not recommend PRP for treatment of patterned hair loss, alopecia areata or any other types of hair loss disorders. Further consideration can be given if more solid evidence from scientific research is available to prove PRP’s effectiveness for hair loss treatment

I appreciate your contact and question and will submit it to our Hair Restoration Blog as it may be of benefit to other people too.

Thanks,

Parsa Mohebi MD