Successful Treatment of Corticosteroid-Resistant Ophiasis-Type Alopecia Areata with Platelet-Rich Plasma

    August 2015 in “ JAAD case reports ”
    Jeff C. Donovan
    Image of study
    TLDR Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections successfully treated a woman's steroid-resistant hair loss, causing hair to regrow within a month.
    Eight years ago, a case study was conducted on a 41-year-old woman with corticosteroid-resistant ophiasis-type alopecia areata (AA), a form of hair loss that affects the occipital and parietal scalp. The patient had not responded to previous treatments, including minoxidil, topical steroids, and intralesional triamcinolone acetonide injections. The study found that treatment with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections led to hair regrowth within one month, with robust regrowth of hairs measuring 2.8 cm by the third month. The patient experienced no mood alterations after the PRP treatment, unlike the mood changes she had experienced after steroid injections. The study concluded that PRP could be a potentially effective treatment for steroid-resistant forms of AA, especially for patients who develop limiting side effects from steroid injections. However, the exact mechanism of PRP in treating AA remained unknown and required further study.
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