Hair transplantation in patients with hair loss or scar deformity in the side hairline after midfacelifting surgery.

[BACKGROUND] Successful aesthetic plastic surgery is devoid of both unsightly scarring and postoperative disfigurement. Patients undergoing midface-lifting surgery are very often disconcerted by an altered side hairline, including sideburns, despite considerable amelioration of facial wrinkles. This study was conducted to identify an effective means of approaching an altered hairline and the unavoidable scarring arising from midface-lifting surgery.

[METHODS] A total of 37 patients who underwent corrective surgery with hair transplantation for hair loss or scar deformity arising from midface-lifting surgery from June 2014 to June 2017, and were observed for more than 6 months thereafter, were enrolled in the study. Prior to corrective surgery, the patients were administered a multiple-choice survey regarding their dissatisfaction arising from midface-lifting surgery. Among the 37 patients, 24, 12, and one underwent donor harvesting by the strip method, non-shaven follicular unit extraction, and partial shaving follicular unit extraction, respectively. Additionally, 33 of the 37 patients underwent hair transplantation in the frontotemporal recess area along with hairline correction surgery. The average number of transplanted grafts was 1,025.

[RESULTS] Surgery resulted in a natural and satisfactory appearance in all patients. The average patient and physician subjective satisfaction scores were 4.6 and 4.8, respectively. No adverse events such as folliculitis occurred.

[CONCLUSIONS] Side-hairline correction surgery by hair transplantation can be considered an effective method of realigning an altered hairline accompanied by scars following midfacelifting surgery.