Body hair transplant into wide donor scar

A Comparative Study on the Rate of Anagen Effluvium and Survival Rates of Scalp, Beard, and Chest Hair in Hair Restoration Procedure of Scalp

Background:

The use of non-scalp donor hair is considered in situations of a relative or absolute lack of head donor hair supply. Till now, very few published works are present on body hair transplant. None of them have compared scalp and non-scalp hair in terms of survival as well as characteristics.

Objective:

To compare the characteristics such as rate of anagen effluvium and survival rates of scalp, beard, and chest hair in hair restoration procedure of scalp.

Materials and Methods:

Three blocks of 1cm² were marked on a non-frontal area. Thirty slits with a 0.9mm blade were made in each block. Single follicular unit was taken from scalp, beard, and chest area and was implanted simultaneously in each block, respectively. The areas were evaluated for any graft loss, anagen effluvium, and survival rate.

Results:

During initial period of 2 months, anagen effluvium in scalp (40%) and beard (30%) were significantly less than body (53.3%) hair with excellent survival rate of beard (95%), followed by scalp (89%) and then followed by chest hair (76%) at 1 year.

Conclusion:

Non-scalp hair can become an excellent source of donor area for hair restoration procedure.

Body Hair Transplant by Follicular Unit Extraction: My Experience With 122 Patients

Background

Body hair shafts from the beard, trunk, and extremities can be used to treat baldness when patients have inadequate amounts of scalp donor hair, but reports in the literature concerning use of body hair to treat baldness are confined to case reports.

Objectives

This study aimed to assess the outcome of body hair transplanted to bald areas of the scalp in selected patients.

Methods

From 2005 through 2011, 122 patients preselected for adequate body hair had donor hair transplanted from the beard, trunk, and the extremities to the scalp by follicular unit extraction (FUE) by the author at a single center. All patients were emailed surveys to assess surgical outcomes and overall satisfaction.

Results

Seventy-nine patients (64.8%) responded with a mean time of 2.9 years between date of last surgery and time of survey. Patients were generally very satisfied with results of their procedure, giving mean scores of at least a 7.8 on a Likert-like scale of 0 to 10 for their healing status, hair growth in recipient areas, and overall satisfaction with their surgeries. These scores were comparable to mean scores provided by patients whose transplants included scalp donor sources.

Conclusions

FUE using body hair can be an effective hair transplantation method for a select patient population of hirsute individuals who suffer from severe baldness or have inadequate scalp donor reserve.

Level of Evidence:

4 Therapeutic

Alternative method for creating fine hairs with hair removal laser in hair transplantation for hairline correction

Background

Foremost fine hairs in the frontal hairline region are critical in hair transplantation for hairline correction (HTHC) in women. However, there are few studies on a nonsurgical revisionary method for improving an unnatural foremost hairline with thick donor hairs resulting from a previous HTHC.

Objective

To investigate the efficacy and safety of using a hair removal laser (HRL) system to create fine hairs in Asian women with thick donor hairs.

Methods

Through a retrospective chart review, the HRL parameters, hair diameter (measured with a micrometer before and after the procedures), subjective results after the procedures, adverse effects, and the number of procedures were investigated. The reduction rate of the hair diameter was calculated.

Results

Twenty-four women who received long-pulse Neodymium-Doped:Yttrium Aluminum Garnet therapy after HTHC were included. The parameters were as follows: delivered laser energy, 35~36 J/cm²; pulse duration, 6 ms; and spot size, 10 mm. The mean number of laser sessions was 2.6. The mean hair diameter significantly decreased from 80.0±11.5 µm to 58.4±13.2 µm (p=0.00). The mean rate of hair diameter reduction was -25.7% (range, -44.6% to 5.7%). The number of laser sessions and the hair diameter after the procedures showed a negative correlation (r=-0.410, p=0.046). Most of the patients (87.5%) reported subjective improvement of their hairlines. Most complications were transient and mild.

Conclusion

HRL can be an alternative method for creating fine hairs and revising foremost hairline in Asian women with thick donor hairs.

Body hair transplantation: case report of successful outcome

Transplantation of body hair in to scalp has been suggested as an option to treat extensive cases of baldness with poor donor scalp. However, evidence about its long-term efficacy is yet lacking, with very few published reports and the routine use of the technique is still controversial. We report the satisfactory outcome in a case of extensive baldness in whom hairs from different donor areas such as chest, abdomen, arms, thighs were transplanted on to scalp.