Never Too Old to Regenerate? Wound-Induced Hair Follicle Neogenesis After Secondary Intention Healing in a Geriatric Patient

The document describes a unique case where an 80-year-old patient experienced hair follicle neogenesis, with a black hair growing at the center of a scalp wound 180 days after the wound was left to heal by secondary intention following the surgical removal of a basal cell carcinoma. Remarkably, the hair remained black even after 42 months. This case indicates that hair regeneration is possible in elderly humans and may represent the first documented instance of such regrowth following wound healing. The findings prompt further investigation into the factors that influence wound healing and tissue regeneration, such as wound size and patient age, and suggest potential for developing new treatments for hair loss conditions or severe skin injuries. The study highlights the need for additional cases to verify these results and to explore the underlying mechanisms, with research supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan.