1st International World FUE Institute Workshop Review

[Dr. David Josephitis]

The first World FUE Institute Workshop put on by the World FUE Institute (WFI) took place in the Canary Islands, Spain on Nov. 11-13, 2016.This newly formed society consists of hair transplant physicians from across the globe that place special emphasis on the advancement of FUE.The Institute exists to further the study of FUE and to form an educational space for physicians to further the field.Dr. Jose Lorenzo of Spain and Dr. Koray Erdogan of Turkey are the current president and vice president of the organization.They worked tirelessly to put together an excellent educational offering.Drs. Alejandro Chueco, Antonio Ruston, Alex Ginzburg, Bijan Feriduni, Hussain Rahal, Emorane Lupanzula, and Ron Shapiro were the other members of the faculty who each delivered countless lectures and performed surgeries in the afternoons.

The location was ideal for the meeting and took place on the Spanish island of Tenerife off the coast of Africa. The weather was comfortable and the beaches along the coast were beautiful.There was a good turnout for a first meeting with around 50 physicians in attendance.I was honored to have attended and to have been asked to perform one of the live surgeries during the workshop.

Day 1 started with an incredible amount of activity.In the morning there were a tremendous amount of educational lectures aimed at not only the beginning FUE surgeon but also those more advanced.There were lectures about the various types of FUE devices currently available as well as those being developed.Dr. Chueco discussed the different types of individual punches and how one can differentiate one size and type from another.Those in attendance were introduced to a new and exciting FUE device from Dr. Trivillini called the Mamba.It uses suction to stabilize the graft and also vibration to free it from the underlying tissues.Dr. Shapiro discussed the new motorized flat device from Dr. Jean DeVroye called the WAW.This device marries the ease and precision of a sharp punch with the transection-limiting nature of a blunt punch, giving a large percentage of high quality grafts.

Drs. Erdogan and Lorenzo discussed a new topic in FUE planning called “Coverage Value.” This topic is sure to become very common for all FUE physicians in their surgical planning for the patient in the near future.The idea here is that the patient prior to surgery will be assigned a number based on their hair caliber, density and area of donor.Using this number (coverage value), the physician can determine how many procedures need to be done in a certain area to give a desired effect.Also, and just as importantly, the patient can find out how many grafts can safely be transplanted in their lifetime.

There were talks given later that morning concerning the best way to place FUE grafts. Some physicians use forceps while an ever growing number of others are using implanters.The pros and cons of each were discussed.Finally, a description of the various types of FUE devices (manual, motorized, flat) was given prior to the actual live surgical observation.

The first afternoon consisted of one case performed by Dr. Lorenzo. The interesting aspect of this case was that he used 4 different types of FUE devices on the same patient.He used the manual, Mamba, blunt, and WAW (DeVroye) systems.

Day 2 again started very early with lectures.The first lectures from Dr. Ruston discussed ways of increasing the speed and efficiency of FUE extractions.Later some lectures went over potential complications of doing very large sessions (gigasessions of 4000+).

Some of the talks dealt with the rising wave of poor quality work that is being done by inexperienced clinics throughout the world. There were a few lectures on how to tackle these cases and how to go about correcting poor work that was done.FUE into scars was a topic covered as well as using SMP (scalp micropigmentation) into areas.

The afternoon consisted of 4 different patients performed by 4 different surgeons. The attendees were able to move about from room to room asking the various surgeons specific questions along the way.Dr. Ginzburg used his cordless motorized sharp device and placed those grafts with implanters.A manual technique with the patient in the upright seated position was demonstrated by Dr. Erdogan.He followed this by showing his new device called the “Keep” to assist in placing the grafts with forceps.Dr. Ruston used a motorized sharp system to extract while showing how he does the stick-and-place for placing the grafts.Finally, Dr. Feriduni also used a manual device with both an oscillation and non-oscillation technique to remove the grafts.

Day 3 started with a discussion of the ethical way of performing hair transplantation on patients.Physicians also heard a lecture by Dr. Ruston about the “Red Flags,” or things that all surgeons need to be on the lookout for to avoid performing surgery on a poor candidate.There were also a few interesting lectures about body hair transplantation.Beard and body hair were discussed as alternate sources of donor in addition to the scalp.A specialized technique for eyelash transplantation was demonstrated by Dr. Feriduni.

Poor growth and the depletion of the donor area was a topic of discussion as well. There was talk about ways to improve growth and to diminish poor yield in all FUE patients.Dr. Shapiro delivered his popular hairline talk showing the proper planning and placement of a natural-appearing hairline.Other physician speakers discussed their different techniques in designing an age-appropriate hairline.

The final day of the workshop ended with another 4 surgeries performed by 4 surgeons. Dr. Lorenzo demonstrated the manual sharp technique on his patient.These grafts were placed with implanters which is common in his clinic.Dr. David Josephitis demonstrated the new WAW flat motorized device in another patient.This new device contains a foot pedal with adjustable speed and oscillation which allows the physician to tailor the speed and movement of the punch to minimize the transection rate and maximize the number of quality grafts.Drs. Lupanzula and Cueco demonstrated their techniques followed by the use of implanters for their cases.

Overall, the first workshop of the WFI was a success.Ideas were openly shared in a friendly and collegial atmosphere.Many physicians walked away with new ideas and techniques to try out in their own clinics.

[hsrp10]

very nice writeup, are there any posted videos on Youtube etc from the workshops?