Letter to the Editor
Response to “Preventing the Problems of Postoperative Pressure Alopecia”
Aesthetic Surgery Journal 2015, Vol 35(2) NP34 © 2015 The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. Reprints and permission: [email protected] DOI: 10.1093/asj/sju065 www.aestheticsurgeryjournal.com
Alexander Dionyssopoulos, MD, PhD; Antony Papaconstantinou, MD; Alexandra Stoltidou, MD, PhD; and Georgia-Alexandra Spyropoulou, MD, PhD
We would like to thank Dr Abner1 for her interest in our article, “Can an ‘Aesthetic’ Intervention (Braided Hair Coil) Cause Hair Loss After an Aesthetic Operation?”2 We would like to take this opportunity to provide clarification about the issues that she raised. In your letter, you disagreed with our assessment of the cause of postoperative pressure alopecia (PPA). As we discussed in our article, this is an assumption made in previously published articles,3-5 2 of which were published quite a long time ago. This is not a topic often discussed in the surgical literature, and most of the work that has been published on the topic is rather outdated. We agree with the example you provided of the etiology of the creation of pressure ulcers in relation to time lapsed. However, we strongly believe that the cause of PPA likely varies in relation to a set of parameters, and further research is required to prevent oversimplification. It is encouraging to know that an international colleague experienced the same unpleasant outcome with PPA, and we regret that we did not find your example during our literature review so that we could cite and discuss it. We completely agree with the advice you give to your patients, as discussed in the conclusion of our article. Moreover, we also agree with your suggestion regarding the use of safety checklists to minimize unpleasant outcomes. Also clearly stated in the conclusion of our article. I hope we have thoroughly responded to your queries, and we greatly appreciate both your interest in our article and your enlightening comments.
Disclosures The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of this article.
REFERENCES 1. Abner M. Preventing the Problems of Postoperative Pressure Alopecia. Aesthet Surg J. 2015;35(2):NP33. 2. Dionyssopoulos A, Papaconstantinou A, Stoltidou A, Spyropoulou GA. Can an "aesthetic" intervention (braided hair coil) cause hair loss after an aesthetic operation? Aesthet Surg J. 2014;34(5):668-670. 3. Abel RR, Lewis GM. Postoperative ( pressure) alopecia. Arch Dermatol. 1960;81:34-42. 4. Lypka MA, Yamashita DD, Urata MM. Postoperative alopecia following orthognathic surgery. J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2008;66(9):1957-1958. 5. Patel KD, Henschel EO. Postoperative alopecia. Anesth Analg. 1980;59(4):311-313. Dr Dionyssopoulos is an Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, Dr Papaconstantinou is a Consultant in Plastic Surgery, and Dr Spyropoulou is a Lecturer in Plastic Surgery, Department of Plastic Surgery, General Hospital “Papageorgiou,” Thessaloniki, Greece. Dr Stoltidou is a plastic surgeon in private practice in Thessaloniki, Greece. Corresponding Author: Dr Alexander Dionyssopoulos, Department of Plastic Surgery, School of Medicine-Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, General Hospital “Papageorgiou,” Periferiaki Odos Thessalonikis, 56403 Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]
Response to “Preventing the Problems of Postoperative Pressure Alopecia”
Aesthetic Surgery Journal 2015, Vol 35(2) NP34 © 2015 The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. Reprints and permission: [email protected] DOI: 10.1093/asj/sju065 www.aestheticsurgeryjournal.com
Alexander Dionyssopoulos, MD, PhD; Antony Papaconstantinou, MD; Alexandra Stoltidou, MD, PhD; and Georgia-Alexandra Spyropoulou, MD, PhD
We would like to thank Dr Abner1 for her interest in our article, “Can an ‘Aesthetic’ Intervention (Braided Hair Coil) Cause Hair Loss After an Aesthetic Operation?”2 We would like to take this opportunity to provide clarification about the issues that she raised. In your letter, you disagreed with our assessment of the cause of postoperative pressure alopecia (PPA). As we discussed in our article, this is an assumption made in previously published articles,3-5 2 of which were published quite a long time ago. This is not a topic often discussed in the surgical literature, and most of the work that has been published on the topic is rather outdated. We agree with the example you provided of the etiology of the creation of pressure ulcers in relation to time lapsed. However, we strongly believe that the cause of PPA likely varies in relation to a set of parameters, and further research is required to prevent oversimplification. It is encouraging to know that an international colleague experienced the same unpleasant outcome with PPA, and we regret that we did not find your example during our literature review so that we could cite and discuss it. We completely agree with the advice you give to your patients, as discussed in the conclusion of our article. Moreover, we also agree with your suggestion regarding the use of safety checklists to minimize unpleasant outcomes. Also clearly stated in the conclusion of our article. I hope we have thoroughly responded to your queries, and we greatly appreciate both your interest in our article and your enlightening comments.
Disclosures The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of this article.
REFERENCES 1. Abner M. Preventing the Problems of Postoperative Pressure Alopecia. Aesthet Surg J. 2015;35(2):NP33. 2. Dionyssopoulos A, Papaconstantinou A, Stoltidou A, Spyropoulou GA. Can an "aesthetic" intervention (braided hair coil) cause hair loss after an aesthetic operation? Aesthet Surg J. 2014;34(5):668-670. 3. Abel RR, Lewis GM. Postoperative ( pressure) alopecia. Arch Dermatol. 1960;81:34-42. 4. Lypka MA, Yamashita DD, Urata MM. Postoperative alopecia following orthognathic surgery. J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2008;66(9):1957-1958. 5. Patel KD, Henschel EO. Postoperative alopecia. Anesth Analg. 1980;59(4):311-313. Dr Dionyssopoulos is an Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, Dr Papaconstantinou is a Consultant in Plastic Surgery, and Dr Spyropoulou is a Lecturer in Plastic Surgery, Department of Plastic Surgery, General Hospital “Papageorgiou,” Thessaloniki, Greece. Dr Stoltidou is a plastic surgeon in private practice in Thessaloniki, Greece. Corresponding Author: Dr Alexander Dionyssopoulos, Department of Plastic Surgery, School of Medicine-Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, General Hospital “Papageorgiou,” Periferiaki Odos Thessalonikis, 56403 Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]
