Donor Graft Math

[Spanker]

So a recent thread got me wondering the answer to this:

 

Does having multiple procedures and essentially trying to "maintain" reduce the number of grafts you will get rather that waiting till you need quite a few?

 

For instance, would a person that had three 1200 graft procedures have the same remaining available donor as the guy who had one 3600 graft procedure?

[1978matt]

I'm no expert but I imagine the more operations you have the less donor 'efficiency' you get. My theory is as follows:

 

Say someone has 6000 total donor. Taking this in 3 strip surgeries might yield 3 x 1800 grafts = 5400.

 

(I've assumed you lose 200 on the boundary of each strip where the scalpel disects the skin)

 

Now say you had 2 strip surgeries you might yield 2x2800 grafts = 5600. So in (my) theory you get a more efficient use of your donor.

 

 

In the case of FUE I think you just have a set number of grafts and once they are used up you're done.

[Cam Simmons MD ABHRS]

So a recent thread got me wondering the answer to this:

 

Does having multiple procedures and essentially trying to "maintain" reduce the number of grafts you will get rather that waiting till you need quite a few?

 

For instance, would a person that had three 1200 graft procedures have the same remaining available donor as the guy who had one 3600 graft procedure?

 

Spanker

 

Thanks. You raise interesting questions!

 

I tend not to do repeated small sessions so I can't answer this from experience. My guess is that the total number of grafts available would be about the same for your hypothetical patient.

 

A guy who could get 3600 grafts in one session would have a 30 cm to 35 cm long donor strip available from ear-to-ear. To get 1200 grafts, only a 10-12 cm long strip would be removed and there would still be 2400 grafts available from the remaining untouched area.

 

Another question: Would he ultimately have more hair in the same transplanted area after 1 session of 3600 grafts or 3 sessions of 1200 grafts? That is up for debate but I would be in the one session camp.

 

Hair transplants are meant to improve appearance; not to maintain it. Medications are meant to maintain hair. Once you are committed to hair transplantation, you can transplant an area as soon as it is thin enough that there would be a noticeable improvement a year later. I don't transplant an area until I can see scalp through the existing hair but I don't make my patients wait until they are bald either.

[Jotronic]

Hair transplants are meant to improve appearance; not to maintain it. Medications are meant to maintain hair.

 

Sometimes even simple concepts of this field are made more obvious when put into such wonderfully simplistic terms. How many times have we heard a patient say they want a transplant to "maintain" their hair? I'm going to steal this for my consultations:)

[Shampoo]

Sometimes even simple concepts of this field are made more obvious when put into such wonderfully simplistic terms. How many times have we heard a patient say they want a transplant to "maintain" their hair? I'm going to steal this for my consultations:)

 

thats why i almost laugh when i hear some of the especially younger guys say emphatically "i'm not gonna take propecia because of possible side effects". I chuckle to myself and say "ummmm yeah sure....just wait...you will or you'll probably be bald no matter what's transplanted". Time changes attitudes!

[Spanker]

Sometimes even simple concepts of this field are made more obvious when put into such wonderfully simplistic terms. How many times have we heard a patient say they want a transplant to "maintain" their hair? I'm going to steal this for my consultations:)

 

Jo,

 

I understand that a transplant cannot maintain hair, but can someone not use them to help maintain a look?

 

Can a person no use transplantation so that (if they have enough donor) never look bald or significantly balding?

 

 

SMG presented a nice case over many years where a man did this. I don't think it is a new concept, just wondering if it is reasonable to expect it to be successful.

 

Btw, I am on fin.

[Jotronic]

Spanker,

 

It's a fair question but there are two types of patients that I see that ask for a hair transplant to "maintain" their hair.

 

Patient 1 - This is the type of patient you are referring to. One that gets smaller procedures over time as they are needed, as you referenced being shared by SMG at one time. There's nothing wrong with this if larger sessions won't be more beneficial.

 

Patient 2 - Usually younger guys, but always guys that have a lot of hair that want a big session to fill in areas of future loss that hasn't occurred yet. I have never understood the logic behind as it would mean two things. First, that we would be able to predict down to the follicle which hairs will fall out. Second, that we can magically fill spots that are not yet empty.

 

I usually tell type 2 patients that to do what they ask is the same thing as filling a glass of water that is already full with the intention of preventing additional evaporation. There is no room to do this. Make sense?

[Spanker]

Makes sense. I can see patient 2 wanting a small amount of grafts in a transition zone, but not over a large amount of have that is still solid.