Hair Transplantation In Primary Cicatricial Alopecias: A Review And Update

    September 2025 in “ Surgeries ”
    Dawn Queen, Marc R. Avram
    TLDR Hair transplants can work for stable cicatricial alopecia, but success varies by condition.
    Hair transplantation (HT) can be effective for patients with primary cicatricial alopecias (PCA) when the disease is stable, ideally for 12–24 months. A review of 33 studies involving 147 PCA patients found that 87.8% experienced positive outcomes, with lichen planopilaris (LPP) showing high graft survival rates of 70–90%. However, conditions like folliculitis decalvans and frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) had higher failure rates. The study highlights the importance of careful patient selection and suggests that adjunct treatments such as immunosuppressants, PRP, and minoxidil may improve results. Despite some success, the literature on HT in PCA is limited, and further research is needed to standardize procedures and understand the risk of PCA reactivation post-transplant.
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