Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

    Introduction: Recently, soft tissue augmentation has become popular due to its simple usage. Autologous fat is one the safest fillers for this purpose. On the other hand, healing effects of autologous platelet gel on acute and chronic human skin wounds have been shown in some recent studies and there are some preliminary evidences in this subject. Therefore, in this study the effect of subcutaneous injection of autologous fat versus the combination of autologous fat and platelet gel in the treatment of wrinkles and atrophies is reported in 6 cases in order to evaluate a new safe and economic way for the improvement of such common skin defects.

Case Report:�Six volunteers including 2 men and 4 women with the age range of 40 to 70 years were recruited in this study which was performed on 12 folds with each subject serving as his or her own control. After the preparation of platelet gel form one pack of individuals’ blood in Iran Blood Transfusion Organization they were referred to the dermatology clinic of

Hazrat-e-Rasool

Akram

Hospital. In order to omit the confounding effects of individual factors, both two sides of lateral nasolabial folds underwent injections one with the combination of autologous fat and platelet gel and the other with autologous fat alone. Healing was monitored for spontaneous wrinkles by clinical assessment and by digital photographs over a 6-months period on baseline (before injection), day 1 (after injection), and months 1, 2, 3 and 6. All of the patients experienced a better improvement in the wrinkles under the injection of the combination of autologous fat and platelet gel in comparison to the other side which was injected only with autologous fat. This difference was particularly more considerable after 6 months follow-up. In addition, no complication was observed in wrinkles under the combination therapy, while hematoma occurred in the 2 nasolabial folds that were injected with autologous fat alone.

Conclusion:�For the first time the effect of subcutaneous injection of autologous fat was compared with the combination of autologous fat and platelet gel in the treatment of wrinkles and atrophies in our study. It is shown that autologous fat in combination with platelet gel may have better cosmetic results in the healing of nasolabial wrinkles and atrophy and also associated with lesser complications (e.g. hematoma). However, the findings of this pilot study should be evaluated in some larger studies with a higher sample size.