I've had a consultation with dr. Zarev a couple of days ago.
I'll share my opinion of him, but have in mind that it was a long consultation (about a hour and a half) and some of the more technical stuff he said to me, I just didn't understand completely due to my lack of knowledge.
So, the first thing as I said is that the consultation was long. He really takes time to listen to you and doesn't treat you just as a patient, but as a person.
The questions that he first asks are - When did you first notice hair loss? What pattern of hair loss runs through your family? Are you taking something to prevent it (medications).
When it comes to medications, he says that the majority of his patients have some sort of side effects from finasteride and was surprised that I didn't have any. He doesn't say that they have severe side effects, but some (brain fog, etc.). Around 15% don't have.
He believes that, if he can make a good conservative opinion, meaning - analyzing your donor, your hair loss and making a worse case scenario (what NW you will end) - age is not that important. I was surprised from that as I know that other surgeons are cautious to transplant on young patients.
I suggested, if it will be a good option to go FUT first, as I've heard that it can spare your donor hair, but for him FUT is an outdated way of doing the things. It usually ends up with poor growth and the current methods are so advanced, that FUT is not necessary anymore.
After all the talking, he takes pictures of you from all angles and then watches you on a micro camera. He showed me pictures of very hard cases.
One of them was a NW6 with retrograde alopecia that he managed to repair. I think he said, that he managed to extract more grafts due to the patient wanting to shave their donor completely. (I'm not sure about that information. Perhaps there are some youtube videos of him, as he suggested that he has uploaded some of his patients).
My case: He said that besides my receding hairline and family history of hair loss, he could take around 14 500 grafts from my donor currently. Those will be enough even for the worst case scenario (NW6), which he suggested as highly unlikely.
From his experience, the best HT results are the ones who grow early (4-5 months) and typically a HT will look better after the first 1-2 years and it will worsen slightly after a few years. Also, he is clear that HT isn't a guarantee, meaning that you can't predict 100% how a human organism will react (especially, if done incorrectly).
If you want to contact him, perhaps e-mail is not the best option (he said, he has around 1200). There is a phone number when you type his name, but it probably is easier to get to him, if you are from Bulgaria. The waiting for a consultation is typically around 1 year, but they probably will call you earlier, as their schedule changes. Once you have the consultation, it becomes easier to get to him. You become their patient and he even gave me his phone number, as I have to send him my blood tests.
Note: This was a long consultation and the best way to understand his opinions/views is to actually meet him or watch some of his videos. I have tried to remember most of what he said to me, but there is a chance that I have misunderstood him on some topics. Take it with a grain of salt.
TLDR: From what I've seen from the opinions about him, he seems like the real deal. He was very friendly and informative about his views and how he does his work.
If you have a big budget and are a high NW, perhaps he will be a good option for you.