Miniaturization analysis

[wb280]

Hi guys, a fellow disgruntled member was complaining that the Miniaturization analysis was not done on him prior to surgery. He was mentioning that nearly 50% of his native hair never grew back. Somehow i felt he blamed that the Miniaturization analysis was not done on him and he might not be a suitable HT candidate in the first place

 

This is the first time i heard of this Miniaturization analysis. Anyone care to shed some light on this?

 

thanks!

[waveskier]

It sure wasn't done on me, and I have never heard of it till today.

[wb280]

Me too. Haven heard of this until yesterday. However, another forum member Monkey said our doc did the test. It need not be a computer test. According to him, our doc Dr Pat did a close up inspection with those tiny manifying glasses.

[wb280]

Hi guys, in case u want to know, i have received a reply from my HT doc, Dr Pathomvanich.

 

He uses a magnifying glass on the little glasses he used ( trust me he looks cute with that! ) and he will do a close inspection of your DONOR, not RECIPIENT.

 

If there is miniaturised hair, meaning the hair is baby-thin like, the surgery would probably not be successful as its obvious this kind of hair is at its last stage and they will drop off soon. Extracting it will nearly immediately terminate its life span. He used to reject patients who has donor hair with such characteristics.

 

However, he is surprised that someone has complained in forum that due to the doc not performing this test, he has gone from a NW 2 to nearly bald. At most, the HT would have failed and the transplanted hair drop off. If there is indeed such a case, it would be due to poor transplantation and not because of poor characteristics of donor hair.

[Louise]

Hi wb280,

 

When inspecting/assessing your hair's characteristics physicians will look for miniaturized hairs in the recipient and donor regions. If the donor hair is miniaturizing, it will not last and should not be transplanted. Some clinics use magnifying loops or a Densitometer or a close-up camera. Dr Simmons inspects everyone's scalp personally with magnifying loops and/or a Microvid camera. The Microvid camera is a hand-held device that can be moved around one's scalp and the physician and patient can see the image on a computer monitor. The follicular groups can be easily seen as well as any miniaturization. If the hair is long enough to hide it, tiny patches can be trimmed to get a very close look at the donor hair.

 

I hope this was helpful.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

Patients should be evaluated for miniturized hairs and DUPA ( Diffuse Unpatterened Alopecia ), These situations can make patients not good candidates for hair transplantation. Many physicians address these issues while evaluating the patient and do not bother mentioning them because they do not apply in their case.

[wb280]

Louise and Dr Charles, glad u guys could chip in !

 

Dr Charles, u r right. I actually did now know this test exist until a couple days ago. Dr Pat mentioned that he did not rake it up as it did not apply to me, and that as a layman, i would be more interested in the results than the actual science, which makes sense!

 

However, i am glad u guys cleared some air about it, so that those potential patients can understand more about it before deciding to go under the knife

[TakingThePlunge]

wb280,

 

I thought I'd add the following from Coalition member, Dr. Bill Rassman:

 

“Mapping measures the miniaturization and density on different areas on the scalp, providing us with a ‘roadmap of data’ to quantifiably measure the current health of the hair. When a medical treatment (such as finasteride or Propecia) is started we can document its effectiveness with the initial and periodic measurements for miniaturization.”

 

All the best,

[wb280]

Thanks David! My point is even though we patients are more focused on the end results rather than various scientific facts, it bodes well for potential patients to understand more so that they can make better choices!

[Happy]

Patients should be evaluated for miniturized hairs and DUPA ( Diffuse Unpatterened Alopecia ), These situations can make patients not good candidates for hair transplantation. Many physicians address these issues while evaluating the patient and do not bother mentioning them because they do not apply in their case.

 

can you give some examples when (in terms of percentage of miniaturised hair) patients are not good candidates for ht?

[ocean]

can you give some examples when (in terms of percentage of miniaturised hair) patients are not good candidates for ht?

 

Hi i read this post and am intrested in hearing what people say about donor miniturizing and at what percenatage is normal(if any) and what is bad:confused:

[bonkerstonker]

Dr Hasson checked me before my ht and found i had mini hairs in my donor called retrograde alopecia, apparently lots of men have it's where your donor hair thins from the bottom up and sides inwards but like most other men i have a extremely thick donor area a little bit higher than the normal safe zone. This is why Dr hasson has been doing a lot of higher looking scars than the normal safe zone. Taking a donor strip mainly from the typical safe zone on me would of been a waste of time and a massive mistake.

[ocean]

Thanks bonkerstonker though does anyone know percentage wise whay is not a candidate for ht i heard alot of ppeps say there shoul;d be none if not minimal amount about 10%.

 

Maybe a ht doc or a rep for one or someone who really knows and gas been turned away may be able to answer this question...

[bonkerstonker]

I can't really understand your english properly but i think you're asking what percentage of people can't have a ht and in my experience it is quite rare that someone can't have a ht and is impossible to put into a percentage simply because there is no data compiled with them facts from everyone inspected but i'd say as soon as your doctor looked at you he would know if you're a candidate or not just from your scalp elasticity the diameter of your hair shafts and your density supply.

[ocean]

I can't really understand your english properly but i think you're asking what percentage of people can't have a ht and in my experience it is quite rare that someone can't have a ht and is impossible to put into a percentage simply because there is no data compiled with them facts from everyone inspected but i'd say as soon as your doctor looked at you he would know if you're a candidate or not just from your scalp elasticity the diameter of your hair shafts and your density supply.

 

Sorry i wrote it too fast (good response to what you thought the question was though:))

 

I meant there should be NO or minimal miniturised hair ( i heard 10% is just about ok though not sure can you help me on this one)

[bonkerstonker]

I 'd just get your self checked, everyone is different so percentages are irelevant you just need to know what your donor has to offer.