Fat Grafting Reduces Skin Hyperpigmentation of Localized Scleroderma Patients: A Prospective Self-controlled Study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Localized scleroderma (LS) is characterized by skin fibrosis, hyperpigmentation and soft tissue atrophy. Fat grafting has been widely used to correct LS deformity. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of fat grafting on the skin pigmentation of LS lesions. METHODS: A prospective self-controlled study was conducted. Skin melanin and erythema indexes were measured by Mexameter® MX18 before and 3 months after surgery. Differences between lesions and contralateral normal sites were compared to evaluate changes induced by fat grafting. Localized Scleroderma Cutaneous Assessment Tool and PUMC Localized Scleroderma Facial Aesthetic Index were used for clinical evaluation. RESULTS: Fourteen frontal linear LS patients participated in the study. Before surgery, the melanin index of the lesions was significantly higher than the contralateral sites (p = 0.023), while the erythema indexes were not significantly different (p = 0.426). Three months post-operation, the melanin index of the lesions significantly decreased (p = 0.008). There was no significant change in the erythema index of the lesions before and after fat grafting (p = 0.322). The LoSCAT and PUMC LSFAI scores demonstrated improved disease condition and facial esthetics after surgery. CONCLUSION: Fat grafting could alleviate skin hyperpigmentation and skin damage of LS lesions while having little effect on skin erythema and disease activity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .