FUE for Patient with keloid scar. Help Needed!

[prabu]

Hi Friends,

 

Need your valuable advice. I am a 33 year old man based in UK with a history of hair loss, with the scale being Norwood 5.

 

I have hair loss for the past 6 to 7 years and have been taking finasteride/dutasteride for the past 3 to 4 years along with minoxidil 10% solution.

 

I have been contemplating HT but unfortunately I have keloids/hypertrophic scars in my body (a keloid scar in my hand from a cut 10 years ago as well as a keloid scar on removal of a benign cyst from my back; I have a family history of keloids too. i.e. my mother). I don’t have any on my face or anywhere else.

 

Since I was anxious about the risk of keloids on my recipient and/or donor area, one of the HT doctors in UK did an experimental transplant of around 10 hairs on my forehead 2-1/2 years back. There has never been a scar in that area, but I never went ahead with HT due to the concerns about keloids.

 

Nowadays the hair fall is really bad and I am very much contemplating FUE. Does anyone advise me as to what my plan of action would be?

 

Help from all the members would be greatly appreciated

 

Many thanks

P

Edited February 14, 2012 by prabu
Inaccuracy

[prabu]

Hi Guys,

 

Any help?

[England]

I am not a doctor and so I have no idea about your specific condition - although the trial run sounds like it was successful.

 

My advice to you would be to get on the channel tunnel (or fly) to Brussels / Hassalt - meet with both doctors and ask them what they think about your condition and the test run you had (which seems extremely wise, by the way).

 

Then, assuming they are happy to operate on you, you can't go wrong with those two. I personally would lean towards Dr Feriduni - it may also be worth consulting with Dr Bisanga (also in Brussels).

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[prabu]

Hi,

 

Do you mean to say no hair transplant surgeons will be able to do transplant on me because I have keloids?

 

I have attached a couple of pictures for your reference.

 

Thanks

P

[prabu]

Any help please? I have emailed several HT clinics and have not got any reply either? Is my case a challenging one for the doctors or I am just too expectant?

[England]

Hi Prabu,

 

I have seen another case on these forums of a guy who has keloids and had an operation so I wouldn't say it's out of the question.

 

Take a look here:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/164919-dr-cooley.html

 

I would give the HT clinics at least a week to get back to you - this is very normal and your case is probably a special one which will require more time on their side. They took a week or longer to get back to my relatively 'normal' case, so be patient and don't rush into anything drastic.

 

:-)

[Jotronic]

I agree with Spex. Keloids are very unpredictable and I personally feel that while your test session of ten grafts may have been successful it has no bearing whatsoever on how your scalp, both donor and recipient, may react to a few thousand grafts.

[prabu]

Looking from the replies, looks like HT is not the choice for me or?. Or, is Spex implying I can go ahead with FUT instead of FUE?

 

Nevertheless, the risk of keloid at the donor area persists.?

[gillenator]

Prabu,

 

I honestly feel for you as as I have observed patients with present keloid scars and or the potential for them.

 

I do not know how much online research that you have done on keloid scars but I encourage you to research as much as you can including other medical websites.

 

After thoroughly reading your post, it appears that you have not sustained any other cuts or lacerations in your scalp area other than the one used to harvest your 10 grafts correct? Please clarify. And i presume the 10 grafts was harvested in the back of your scalp (occipital zone) by strip excision right? Is it possible to shave that small area and get a pic of that scar? Trust me, there is a scar as small as it may be.

 

In addition, after looking very closely, it appears that there is some redness in your forehead at the commencement of your hairline that appears to be more of a blotch, or is that where the grafts went? My question is were there any lingering redness or even a raised redness where the 10 grafts went? Where were the 10 grafts placed? It also appear to have some of the same red blothes in the top where your crown commences.

 

Most of the time, we concern ourselves of what we visually see on the surface, the epidermis layer. With keloiding, the tissue inflames at both levels including the dermis layer. If you were to have a measurable sized procedure whether FUE or strip, it is the trauma of the incisions, large and multiple small ones that can inpact your healing much differently than 10 grafts. There are far more blood vessels and blood supply in our scalps as well, than say our hand.

 

I also congratulate you on doing the test procedure before committing to anything larger. IMHO, 10 grafts would not necessarily equate as being safe because again of the level of potential trauma as well as not knowing how other regions of your scalp might react in the post-op healing process.

 

Possibly approaching this on a small scale basis, meaning very small sessions is possible but since none of us are licensed physicians, we can only offer you what we ourselves have observed. There are more developments in facilitating the healing process with less scarring than there were when you had the test procedure done.

 

Still, your case must be addressed by those physicians/surgeons who have experience treating these situations. You may want to PM the other patient and ask him for updates.

 

Bottom line, there are some successes with patients who have keloid potential but they are far and few between. And yes many reputable docs will not want to treat you because they care more about your welfare in not wanting to harm you.

 

Goodness, I wish you the very best my friend...