Treatment with Sculptra (poly-L-lactic acid), one of two FDA-approved treatments for facial fat loss, results in only modest increases in tissue thickness but high patient satisfaction, according to a study published in the December 15 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
Dianne Carey, MPH, of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues randomized 100 HIV-positive adults with facial fat loss either to receive immediate treatment with Sculptra or to wait 24 weeks before receiving the injections. The majority, 92 percent, were male. There were 50 people in each arm of the study, and people treated with Sculptra received four sets of injections spaced out every two weeks. Treatment effect was measured using both subjective methods—including visual examination and satisfaction surveys—and objective methods, such as CT scanning of the face.
Sculptra treatment was found to be relatively safe, with only minor pain and swelling at the injection sites that lasted for several days after each injection series.
Improvements in objective measurements were modest. Sculptra did not increase facial tissue volume after 24 weeks—there was no change in facial tissue volume in the treatment group, compared with a 10 cm2 additional loss in the deferred group. As for subjective measures, 86 percent of those who received Sculptra were perceived to have improved, compared with 20 percent in the deferred group.
The researchers concede that the study size may have been too small to detect a difference in facial tissue volume and that because the CT scans were carried out at nine different labs this may have also influenced the results of the study.
