Is it possible to have different strip density for each surgery?

[rightoussoul]

Hi Everyone

 

I recently had my second mega session strip procedure and I am not sure if the yield of the strip makes sense!!

 

My first one was done in December 2007, the size of the strip was 1.7 CM by 30 CM for a total yield of 4023 grafts. This give me a strip density of 78 grafts per CM ( if i am calculating it right)

 

My second one was done in September 2008, the size of the strip was 1.6 CM by 26 CM for a total yield of 3922 grafts. This gives me a strip density of 94 Grafts per CM

 

How can two strips have a different amount of density? is this normal? The procedure was done with the same doctor......

 

you thoughts would be appreciated

 

thanks

[rightoussoul]

Hi Everyone

 

I recently had my second mega session strip procedure and I am not sure if the yield of the strip makes sense!!

 

My first one was done in December 2007, the size of the strip was 1.7 CM by 30 CM for a total yield of 4023 grafts. This give me a strip density of 78 grafts per CM ( if i am calculating it right)

 

My second one was done in September 2008, the size of the strip was 1.6 CM by 26 CM for a total yield of 3922 grafts. This gives me a strip density of 94 Grafts per CM

 

How can two strips have a different amount of density? is this normal? The procedure was done with the same doctor......

 

you thoughts would be appreciated

 

thanks

[rightoussoul]

bump

[tofueornottofue]

Looks like a push to me??

 

...but I'm no Dr.

[rightoussoul]

So you are saying the doctor is lying... I wouldn't be surprised.... can any one tell me how many grafts i should have had on the stip if i am considered to have very good donor..

 

tks

[P.J]

Did he remove the existing scar from yor first transplant in the second surgery?

 

If he did - it would not seem possible to come close to those numbers

 

 

PJ

[rightoussoul]

Yes he did remove the first scar... but to be fair i had a very thin scar....

 

But you are right i was suspicious too when he said that. he was actually supposed to harvest 3500 grafts this time 500 less than last time due to the scar....

[vincehair]

That's a lot of fricken' grafts man! Any pics? Your info would be nice

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Hard to tell. In my experience, if you are using the same donor region (ie, not going around to the lateral aspect of the scalp), you will have a lower density the second and third time in. The scalp has stretched a bit to compensate for the previous strip. PLUS, if you are getting a scar excised with the second strip, that scar will have few hairs/cm.

 

Those numbers don't add up to me, but hey, I wasn't there.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Smoothy]

The amount of DENSITY (hairs per FU) will be the same since the same as previous Strips. However, the amount of strip extraction will be less to do the stated above (scar/stretching, ect)

 

SMOOTHY

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[Bill - Seemiller]

rightoussoul,

 

Remember that a "graft" is loosely defined because the number of hairs per graft will vary.

 

The discrepancy here is that clearly the density of your donor hair is calculated much higher in the second surgery. And the fact that the first scar was removed, indicates that the density of the donor is even higher still than 94 FU/cm2, since there won't be as many units growing through the scar.

 

The only thing I can think of is that during the second surgery, a number of the larger 3 and 4 follicular units were broken down into smaller grafts, possibly to make singles for the hairline, etc. Though this makes it appear that your donor density is higher, the number of hairs would really be the same as your first surgery and closer to the 78 FU/cm2.

 

However, usually if hairline reconstruction is needed, this is accomplished in the first surgery.

 

I think to clear things up, you should ask for hair count breakdowns of each surgery. I think you should also clarify the measurements of both strips.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[rightoussoul]

Vincehair

 

I had profused thinning so it was easier to go for a big session since they could spread the grafts all over the place. I can't really say how good the results were, there is definitley an overall improvement but i had pretty good coverage before the hair transplant... if my native hair fell since the surgery than the results are great but if they didn't than i would say it was not very good (no way of knowing for sure)

 

Bill

 

you are correct the grafts from my first surgery were primarily used on my hairline and temples... on the second surgery i also heard the nurse ask the doctor if he wanted more ones.. to which the doctor said no since we were working primarily on the crown with a bit going in the front and the temples. I am starting to really doubt the graft count i was given by this doctor...

 

does anyone know what the average grafts per CM square should be for someone with good hair density? I want to get a better idea of what he actually harvested.

 

P.S the doctor does not keep track of the counts (how many 1s 2s and etc..)

[Dr. Michael Beehner]

All good points above. Just wanted to add that the density of FU's (and hairs) can vary at different heights of the rear donor wall of hair. This is particularly true in my female patients. Sometimes the maximal density is actually in the lowest part of the occipital hair, which is usually an area we try to avoid taking donor strips, as scars can stretch down there. I can imagine a case in which the surgeon correctly placed the scar around a third of the way up the rear donor area, with the scar resting somewhere around the occipital notch, but the donor density in that patient perhaps wasn't maximal there. On the next surgery, in going above that scar (or, less frequently, below the scar), where the density may be greater, a larger number of FU's per square area could be obtained.

The more common scenario, which has already been mentioned, is for the measured density of FU's per cm2 to very slightly diminish at each subsequent session. This is important for calculating how big a strip to take for a given number of grafts, but is not important from a visual perspective. What I mean is that you cannot tell, in looking at the patient, that his hair is thinner back there.

Mike Beehner, M.D.