Dermoscopic Assessment of Microneedling Alone versus Microneedling with Platelet-Rich Plasma in Cases of Male Pattern Alopecia: A Split-Head Comparative Study

INTRODUCTION: Male pattern alopecia (MPA) is a common disorder hugely impacting the quality of life of affected individuals. The meager number of options available for treatment has their own limitations. Novel therapies are continuously being researched for. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study included thirty male patients with Hamilton Grade II to Grade V. All patients received four sequential treatments with microneedling (MN) on one half of the scalp and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with MN (MN + PRP) on the other half for 4 months. Three months following the last session, evaluation was done from the vertex and temporal sites in both the groups by dermoscopic microphotographs by a blinded evaluator. In addition, the patients were asked about their satisfaction score on the basis of treatment outcome. RESULTS: Overall hair thickness showed significant increase in both MN and MN + PRP group. Furthermore, the increase in thickness was almost double in the MN group as compared to MN + PRP group (0.006 and 0.003 mm, respectively). Overall hair density also increased significantly in both the study groups but more in MN + PRP group (14.6 hair/cm(2)) than the MN group (10.8 hair/cm(2)). However, the difference between the results of both the groups was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first split scalp study for MPA. We conclude that MN and PRP are both effective in treatment of androgenetic alopecia and improve the hair parameters and patient satisfaction. However, no additional effect of PRP over MN was observed. Both these therapies are safe and well tolerated without any major side effects. Limitations of our study were small sample size and lack of long-term follow-up.