Dr Zarev Vacuum Assisted Tecnique For Graft Extraction

werefckd

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I would like to see that patient's follow up pictures 12 months out, as well to know if he is on finasteride and minoxidil, etc.
Me too. But he didn't want to post any follow up pictures after that - the reason is obvious, he got a bad results. By the way it doesn't mean it was Zarev's fault.
 

werefckd

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This guy had 3k grafts with Dr. Bruno Pinto. Only less than half grew. He later found out that he had condition in his scalp (notice the redness again).

So guy, before do a giga session and put 6k of your precious grafts at risk at all once, please make a visit to the dermatologist and check if everything is ok with your skin.

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werefckd

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There is a debate if he had that condition (auto immune related) before the transplant, or if it was the transplant that caused it. Who knows, but goes to show hair transplants are not exact science.
 

nahte42

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Why would a hair loss expert and transplant surgeon not be able to make sure the skin is healthy first? Seems wrong. Hair loss experts and surgeons should know just as much if not more about what's going on in the scalp skin than a dermatologist. But idk.
 

coolio

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Sucks to be these patients.

I don't know why the graft survival rates were weak but there are several possibilities with any transplant. People are unique. Hair follicle size/dimensions, the direction they are growing under the skin, the healing traits, etc. Sometimes a totally respectable Doctor just doesn't mesh with a certain patient.

When we demand high-yield FUE work that leaves very small holes in the donor area, we are asking the docs to cut very close to the follicle and risk transecting it. When you keep rolling the dice you won't always win. Docs are only human and transplants are fine artwork. Sometimes they just have a bad day.

All this stuff is why I'm not a fan of megasessions. Especially if it's your first time with the Doctor.
 
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werefckd

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I found this interesting post post in another forum. They found out the kind of device Dr. Zarev uses (or used until the recent past) for his extractions. Graft suction is nothing new, so maybe the "secret" of his AVA FUE method is that he really mastered or perfected the suction technique for graft extraction?

Here it is:

Guys, thanks to the WayBackMachine I found out that Dr. Zarev used to have a picture of the device behind his "AVA" FUE method in his website (text was originally in Bulgarian - I used google translate to convert it to english):

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The device is called Punch Matic and it is manufactured by a french company named Medicamat.

Here is an Youtube video showing the device being used




Basically, the use of suction allows the surgeon so use a smaller punch and to not go as deep in the skin. This results in less transections compared to regular FUE because you don't need get the angle perfectly right, and less scarring because the punch don't go as deep:

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During the video you can see the extractions happening very up close - you can actually see the grafts being sucked into the device. It's definitely worth to watch it.

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I know that there are people that believes that the suction damages the FU but let me ask if that was the case would Dr. Zarev be able to show such successful cases of huge restorations performed?
 

whatintheworld

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The speed of that machine now sort of resolves the question of how can so many grafts be done in a single day.

It appears to be very efficient at both extraction and placement. I think that is the key in making the donor appear less damaged. If you look at for example this result:


It is clear the donor area is thinner, but the thinness is uniform and the scarring is minimized, so it doesn't look unnatural to the naked eye. Microscopically you would surely see more of course.

We can find so many examples of much smaller graft cases with patients unfortunately having huge crater areas in their donor, or not doing the extraction distribution correctly so it is over-concentrated in a single area. It is a combination of art and science to get it to look "just right".

Further, of course just having the tool isn't enough. The slits have to be made perfectly and it has to be used with the utmost care I presume.
 

werefckd

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The speed of that machine now sort of resolves the question of how can so many grafts be done in a single day.

It appears to be very efficient at both extraction and placement. I think that is the key in making the donor appear less damaged. If you look at for example this result:


It is clear the donor area is thinner, but the thinness is uniform and the scarring is minimized, so it doesn't look unnatural to the naked eye. Microscopically you would surely see more of course.

We can find so many examples of much smaller graft cases with patients unfortunately having huge crater areas in their donor, or not doing the extraction distribution correctly so it is over-concentrated in a single area. It is a combination of art and science to get it to look "just right".

Further, of course just having the tool isn't enough. The slits have to be made perfectly and it has to be used with the utmost care I presume.
And since the guy got complete coverage on top, it is safe to guess that transection rate was very minimal
 

whatintheworld

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And since the guy got complete coverage on top, it is safe to guess that transection rate was very minimal
Yes, certainly close to that 2% threshold which is very good.

Still, doing 9000 grafts in 2 days is quite the effort, even with the efficiency of the tools. For 4000 grafts a day about, let's say for an 8 hour surgery, that comes out to 500 grafts an hour, or 8-ish a minute.

If we see the speed of that machine in your video, and assume further refinement and dexterity in use, that would seem quite doable, but certainly tough and requiring an experienced and careful touch.

With some breaks in between, bathroom + quick lunch, I mean, it is possible, but certainly tough sledding!

I think because that guy's donor area is so good, that helps with the rate, because it isn't so critical to pick the "best" grafts, as almost all of them look really good.

For patients with more complicated donors, maybe some retrograde alopecia or slight DUPA, of course it is trickier, so maybe the number of grafts per day would be less, but still shouldn't be a problem.
 

coolio

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He probably runs longer than 8hrs/day.

Still, in the big picture that's like 10 seconds per graft. Probably not much more.

That's nuts. It's hard to imagine how that speed would not compromise the results at all. I wonder if he would accept some extra money to slow the pace down a bit.
 

whatintheworld

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He probably runs longer than 8hrs/day.

Still, in the big picture that's like 10 seconds per graft. Probably not much more.

That's nuts. It's hard to imagine how that speed would not compromise the results at all. I wonder if he would accept some extra money to slow the pace down a bit.
I actually remember from his presentation on YouTube he said he does 12 hour days.
 

werefckd

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That's not nuts. What IS nuts is that he does both the extractions and implantations himself. Lol.

Here it shows him doing the extractions



It can get almost as fast as 1 graft per second.

The video is old, perhaps he improved the technique even more since then.


Edit: compare it with a punch with no suction. You have to make all the holes first then use a tweezer like tool to take the graft out in a different step.
 
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Spanishboy97

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In Spain some top doctors have a similar price but they start reducing price for graft when it gets to a certain number. I wonder if Zarev does the same
 
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