Use of Urinary Bladder Matrix, a Bioactive, Acellular Scaffold, in Transplant Donor Scars and Androgenetic Alopecia: Initial Clinical Experience

Abstract

Introduction: Emerging regenerative medicine technologies have yet to be utilized in hair restoration surgery. Urinary bladder extracellular matrix (UBM) has shown promise in a wide variety of applications, inducing site-specific remodeling of injured tissue. This case series describes one clinician's experience in the first use of this regenerative material in hair restoration surgery. Materials and Methods: Twenty subjects underwent one of several protocols: (1) Treatment of 3-mm biopsies within donor site scars with UBM versus untreated controls, (2) Removal of a strip of donor site scar tissue and treatment of the site with UBM, (3) Soaking of occipital hair follicle grafts in a solution of UBM, or (4) Soaking of beard or temple hair follicle grafts. Results: At 6 months, hair was observed in biopsy sites that contained UBM, including donor scar areas that would not normally regrow hair, in contrast to the control biopsy sites. Similar results were observed for the strip excisions. UBM-soaked occipital, beard, and temple hair grafts consistently yielded higher than expected numbers of hair follicles. Conclusions: These cases provide anecdotal support for the hypothesized benefits of UBM regenerative technology in restoration therapy for men and women with androgenetic hair loss.