ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cicatricial alopecia always occurs following the scalp trauma, and the optimal repairing method is scalp soft tissue expansion. OBJECTIVE: To verify the repairing effect of scalp soft tissue expansion therapy on the large-scale cicatricial alopecia. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A case report was carried out in the Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery at the 180 Hospital of Chinese PLA (Quangzhou, Fujian, China) between January 1996 and April 2008. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-six patients of cicatricial alopecia were adopted, with the size arranging 15 cm?9 cm to 24 cm?14 cm. METHODS: Scalp soft tissue expansion was performed in 36 cases of cicatricial alopecia. In later stage, the residual alopecia with small area was removed by scar excision plus suture for several times, treated with transposition repair of local flap and autologous hair transplant carrying hair follicle. The largest area to repair alopecia reached 336 cm2. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Postoperative complications, repairing effect and cicatrix restitution were observed after operation; The elimination of alopecia area, hair density and appearance were detected during follow-ups. RESULTS: Psilotic scar eliminated in all cases, but 11 cases underwent scalp scar excision, transposition of local flap and autologous hair transplant because of wide incisional scar or residual small alopecia. No obvious complications occurred. It was found by a postoperative follow-up of 1-3 years that hair growth was good. CONCLUSION: Skin soft tissue expansion is an ideal method to repair cicatricial alopecia with large area. In later stage, the combination of simple repair methods can obtain better curative effect.