MY VISIT WITH DR. PANINE AND OUR Q&A WITH QUESTIONS FROM FORUM MEMBERS

[Future Hair Doc]

Mods, please move this topic if not in the right sub-forum.

I have had the opportunity to visit many hair transplant clinics and am seldom impressed. However, I had the pleasure of visiting Dr. Vladimir Panine’s Chicago Hair Transplant Clinic (CHTC) in October and came away very excited. Dr. Panine is an Elite Coalition member and possibly the most accomplished hair transplant surgeon that I’ve come across. He is truly an artist when it comes to hair restoration. He completed 3 years of General Surgery residency (at Stanford University, no less) and finished a Dermatology residency and is Board Certified in Dermatology. Dr. Panine has been a hair transplant surgeon for about 30 years and has performed well over 4,000 hair transplant surgeries during his illustrious career. When I had the chance to visit Dr. Panine, I jumped at the opportunity. His academic and clinical accomplishments are stellar.

CHTC is located on the 27^th floor of the iconic John Hancock Center in the heart of the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. His clinic overlooks the scenic Lake Michigan and famous Lake Shore Drive. I’ve visited many hair transplant clinics and CHTC is easily the most beautiful clinic I’ve visited. If I were a patient, I’d consider myself lucky to not only have Dr. Panine as my surgeon, but also being lucky enough to have such great views of Chicago and Lake Michigan.

I was warmly greeted by Dr. Panine and Mr. Stuart Rosenberg, who is the clinic manager of CHTC. I visited CHTC on a Saturday and saw a post-op patient who had had an FUE procedure the day before on Friday. In my experience, most clinics are closed on weekends and I asked Dr. Panine why his clinic is open on weekends. He said, “Because I like to see my post-op patients the day after their procedure and periodically thereafter, even if it’s the weekend.” His dedication to his patients and passion for his craft are unparalleled.

The patient had received about 2,300 grafts and the grafts were strategically and finely placed in the frontal part of his scalp to give the best results in terms of both density and contour. Dr. Panine creates the recipient site himself beforehand to minimize the time that grafts spend outside the patient’s body to maximize graft survival and everything is done by hand for perfection. He extracts grafts via a 0.7mm – 0.9mm punch using the Harris and Cole punches punch. Grafts are placed in chilled HypoThermasol and ATPV solutions, which has been shown to enhance graft survival. 

Dr. Panine’s techs have an average of 10 years of experience and they just assist during the procedure. Under Dr. Panine's supervision, the techs trim the grafts using Meiji microscopes and then Dr. Panine rechecks them before placing them. Dr. Panine extracts grafts with minimal transection, makes the surgical sites and places the grafts. While people appreciate the skillset, artistry, and knowledge of hair transplant surgeons; I firmly believe it is VERY important to have great technicians.

In addition to a post-op consult, Dr. Panine saw a 36-year-old gentleman for a consult. The patient was concerned about his thinning hair and receding in the frontal and temple areas. This patient barely had any hair loss (I would have loved to have his hair) and Dr. Panine put him at ease and recommended a 3-month trial of oral finasteride. There was no rush or pressure placed on the patient whatsoever and Dr. Panine answered all of his questions comprehensively.  

I am thankful to Dr. Panine and his staff for allowing me to visit their clinic. Without a doubt, I would recommend Dr. Panine. He performs ultra-refined follicular unit transplantation and is extremely dedicated to his patients. He truly is an artist and it is no wonder why he is so well regarded in the field and has so many happy patients. Dr. Panine says that it makes his day making his patients happy and making them look more youthful. 

 Here are some photos from my visit and photos that Dr. Panine and his staff kindly provided me to share. Check out the sweet views of Chicago and Lake Michigan from Dr. Panine's clinic:

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Dr. Suhail Khokhar

[Future Hair Doc]

A lot of forum members submitted questions for Dr. Panine and I did a Q&A with him and asked the questions that members had. Here is the transcript:

 

1) What are your thoughts on the ideal age range to consider a hair transplant?  

There is really no idea age range, it depends more on the degree of hair loss and patient expectations. I never want to get too aggressive with young patients and create too juvenile of a hairline that will not look good as they get older. Also, older patients need to have no major health related issues.  

2) What are your thoughts on sutures versus staples for closing wounds, especially in terms of scar appearance and infection risk? 

Sutures are preferable to stables because it minimize the risk of a wider scar.

3) With the success of FUE, do you think there's a place for FUT and if so, in what scenarios?

With today’s results there is no difference between the success rate of a FUE or FUT procedure. The only difference is that with FUT procedures, there will be a linear scar. FUT procedures is performed for those patients who can't shave their donor reasons due to social or professional reasons. 

4) Do you prefer finasteride or dutasteride?

I prefer finasteride to dutasteride for his patients since it is FDA approved for hair loss.

5) Topical finasteride/dutasteride is coming to the US market soon (it's readily available in Europe and many Asian countries). What are your thoughts on the efficacy of oral versus topical?

It will depend on the vehicle that it is formulated in. The closest to systemic administration would be using a liposomic vehicle.

6) What are the most common mistakes you see patients make in selecting a surgeon?

Looking for price over quality

 

 

[TorontoMan]

Interesting to hear his take on the FUT vs FUE debate. If he believes the success is the same, then FUE is the better option for aesthetic reasons 

[Melvin- Admin]

Great write up Dr. Panine is such a quality doc.

[Britanium]

Nice write up and pics. Good Q&A too! Thanks for the details. 

[mavigo]

The views from the patient chair are amazing (when you're not facing down, haha). The office looks great, and is in a good locations with hotels and parking garages right across the street. Dr. Panine and his staff are impeccable, good at what they do and most importantly, they really care about you. 

I was happy to have chosen Dr. Panine as my physician and I highly recommend him.