A pilot clinical study of hair grafting in chronic leg ulcers.
Wound Repair Regen
; 20(6): 806-14, 2012.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23110506
ABSTRACT
Epidermal sheets spread centrifugally postinjury from the hair follicle infundibulum to reepithelialize the wound bed. Healing progresses faster in skin areas rich in terminal hair follicles. These observations are consistent with the role of the hair follicle as a major reservoir for progenitor cells. To evaluate the feasibility and potential healing capacity of autologous scalp follicular grafts transplanted into the wound bed of chronic leg ulcers, 10 patients with ulcers of an average 36.8 cm(2) size and a 10.5-year duration were included in this pilot study. Within each ulcer we randomly assigned a 2 × 2 cm "experimental" square to receive 20 hair grafts and a nongrafted "control" square of equal size. The procedure seemed to be safe, although major unrelated complications occurred in two patients. At the 18-week end point, we observed a 27.1% ulcer area reduction in the experimental square as compared with 6.5% in the control square (p = 0.046) with a maximum 33.5% vs. 9.7% reduction at week 4 (p = 0.007). Histological analyses showed enhanced epithelialization, neovascularization, and dermal reorganization. We conclude that terminal hair follicle grafting into wound beds is feasible in an outpatient setting and represents a promising therapeutic alternative for nonhealing chronic leg ulcers.
Texto completo:
1
Ejes tematicos:
Pesquisa_clinica
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Células Madre
/
Cicatrización de Heridas
/
Folículo Piloso
/
Epidermis
/
Úlcera de la Pierna
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
Límite:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Año:
2012
Tipo del documento:
Article