Pat's Visit to Hasson and Wong in Vancouver Canada

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Update ??“ This Monday and Tuesday (August 21st and 22nd) I will be watching Dr. Hasson and Dr. Wong performing two very large cases of ultra refined follicular unit grafting.

 

Those of you who are regulars on this and other hair loss forums know that Hasson and Wong in Vancouver, Canada have earned a reputation for providing huge sessions of ultra refined grafts that leave viewers online saying "Wow".

 

Some of their patients like Joe (Jotronic), David (Futzhead), Bob (Bobman), (Hairbank) and others have become virtual hair restoration celebrities. Their transformations have been amazing and they have given hope to many hair loss sufferers.

 

Many have made the trek to Vancouver, BC to get hair transplant sessions that some times exceed 4,000, 5,000 and in some cases 6,000 grafts. I've visited Hasson and Wong's clinic in the past and two years ago attended the ISHRS meeting in Vancouver in which many of H & W's patients were shown during the patient showing. Their patient results were impressive both in terms of session sizes and refinement.

 

Such huge surgical sessions require a large and skilled staff that is willing to work a long day and a patient who can be very patient. Many clinics are either not willing or capable of performing such large sessions, while some patients simply can not afford such sessions. But today more and more patients are expecting and getting larger and more dramatic results from one surgical session.

 

Hasson and Wong have raised the bar for the entire hair transplant industry. Some leading physicians have met this higher standard and expanded their capacity and ability to provide large sessions that use smaller and more refined incisions. Other hair transplant physicians have resisted doing such larger sessions ??“ arguing that such huge sessions over tax the donor area or over state the actual amount of hair moved by using smaller grafts that contain less hairs.

 

Those clinics that have met these higher ultra refined standards are eligible for membership in the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

 

Much has changed since I first saw Dr. Hasson and Dr. Wong performing surgery over three years ago. So I look forward to watching both of them do all day mega sessions this coming Monday (Dr. Hasson) and Tuesday (Dr. Wong). I will certainly be taking lots of photos and notes. The highlights will then be shared on this forum and on our new hair loss blog.

 

So does anyone have any special requests or questions for Dr. Hasson, Dr. Wong, Joe or the staff?

 

All the best, Pat

[Bushy]

Hey, Pat. Wow, I'm sure you will bring back a good deal of useful information (and pics!) for all of us. Thanks for taking this meaningful step!

[HairHope]

Can I PLEASE hide in your luggage, I need HT#2 soon

[Bobman]

Looking forward to your post upon your return.

[hairbank]

Great, Pat!

 

Your visits to the various clinics are invaluable. It's one thing to have "heard of" a clinic or Doc that provides great results and pics posted on the forum are helpful as well. However, there's nothing like experiencing an HT from the Doc's literal viewpoint.........I'd like to try it sometime.

 

I look forward to reading your review and seeing the before and afters of those who'll be in the chair.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Nothing beats visiting a clinic in person and seeing the whole operation from A to Z. I had a very full day at H & W's on Monday (as did the staff doing the impressive 5,000 plus graft surgery from 8 am to 8pm). I also had the opportunity to meet with almost a half dozen of their very satisfied patients.

 

H & W have really raised the bar for their profession and for hair transplant patients. It's going to be fun to write and share my experience in full on this forum and on our new blog.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

There was so much to observe and report from my visit on Monday to Hasson and Wong that it took me more than a day to write up an extensive and detailed report that is now posted on our blog under - Visit to Hasson and Wong Aesthetic Surgery in Vancouver, Canada by Pat the Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network.

 

I encourage you to post your comments on the actual blog post. I look forward to reading your comments. I will be inviting all physicians recommended on the Hair Transplant Network to read the highlights from this visit.

 

The photos from this visit are posted on this forum in the photo album entitled, Photos from Pat's Visit to Hasson and Wong Aesthetic Surgery

 

Much of what I saw confirmed what we have all seen over the past few years - that Hasson and Wong have really raised the bar for excellence.

 

I'd also like to thank Joe, Doug and Dr. Hasson for making my visit a real pleasure as well. I enjoyed their good humor and hospitality.

 

Joe and Doug, as well as Mike in Seattle, are very knowledgable and provide patients with a level of service and post op care that rivals the actual surgical results.

 

Onward and Upwards, Pat

[Jotronic]

Pat,

 

It was great to have you here and I'm glad you got to see the team in action. If only Dr. Wong's patient didn't have a last minute snag to prevent him from having surgery. If he had, you'd have a short novel on your hands

[Pat - Community Publisher]

I just added photos to the blog post about my visit to Hasson and Wong. Please feel free to visit this post on our new blog and add your comments by replying.

 

All the best, Pat

[Bill - Seemiller]

Excellent review. Thanks for all your hard work Pat.

 

Bill

[PCC]

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for the account of the "5000 + " proceedure during your recent visit with Hasson and Wong. Once again this seems like an example of truly outstanding work. Although the gentleman is well advanced in his balding, he should expect a very satisfying outcome with such a large session.

 

However my question relates to his previous "plugs" in his crown area from an earlier proceedure. Like many of us in this predicament they had become obtrusive with progressive hairloss. Dr. Hasson chose to camouflage them with FUs. Any reason why he didn't remove them, reduce them to smaller graphs, and then redistribute them? I know both approaches have their merits.

 

Phil

[Pat - Community Publisher]

PCC,

 

You ask a good question about how best to deal with previous plugs. I know that often when the plugs are large a physician, including at times Dr. Hasson, will use a small punch (about 1mm or less) to excise some of the follicles out of the plug, which are then transplanted else where. This technique is also refered to as "plug reduction".

 

I suspect that since much of the hair in the patient's previous plugs were no longer growing (note the donut shape of the plugs resulting from the hair in the center of the plugs no longer growing) that Dr. Hasson found it unneccisary to remove follicles from these old plugs. Hopefully the new grafts transplanted around the old plugs will be sufficient to camflouge these old plugs.

 

To read more about various hair transplant repair techniques visit the repair section of the Hair Transplant Network.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

What is the optimal "Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation" procedure?

 

Janna, the long time lead medical technician for the Shapiro Medical Group, posted an extensive reply to my Hasson and Wong blog post. I think her in-depth comments raise the big issue of the day ??“ just how large can a single surgical session safely be?

 

Those who have done their research know that in recent years leading hair transplant clinics have moved toward smaller and less invasive incisions and larger numbers of follicular unit grafts. But just how many grafts can be safely harvested and transplanted in one session?

 

In my opinion, there are really only two surgical philosophies that have real legitimacy in this debate, with Hasson and Wong best representing one school of thought and the Shapiro Medical Group best representing the other.

 

Both clinics have the capability to do very large sessions using tiny incisions and highly refined grafts. Yet the Shapiro Medical Group only exceeds 4,000 to 5,000 grafts in very rare cases. Hasson and Wong have many well publicized cases exceeding 5,000 and even 6,000 grafts in one session.

 

The Shapiro Medical Group also believes in keeping all 3 and 4 hair follicular units intact and thus tend to have follicular unit grafts that contain on average slightly more hairs than Hasson and Wong.

 

However, as Janna points out in her reply, despite these philosophical differences, these two clinics' techniques share much in common.

 

I believe that these two variations in technique and philosophy are the true contenders for the optimal "Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation" procedure.

 

Clinics that have not developed the skill or capability to do minimally invasive sessions larger than 2,500 grafts have no real chair at this debate in my opinion. Such clinics may argue that large sessions cannot or should not be done. But their credibility sufferers when they are not even capable of performing such a procedure.

 

I welcome a friendly and fact filled debate regarding what is ultimately the optimal procedure for the patient - when all is considered. I expect that some patients will be drawn towards one philosophy or the other based on their own temperament, philosophy or even budget.

 

But I don't expect any truly educated patient to argue in favor of large invasive incisions that are not carefully oriented and or session sizes that provide far too few grafts and hairs to make a real difference for patients with significant hair loss.

 

Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Grafting is the new gold standard. But which variation of this cutting edge procedure is deemed optimal remains to be determined. I look forward to the members of this community getting actively involved in this friendly debate. I encourage those who are interested to read Janna's comments and reply either on the blog or here.

 

Onwards and Upwards, Pat