Have There Been Any Studies On Marginal Fue Graft Survival Over The Long Term?

[follicle2001]

When I look at pictures of FUE donor sites on, say, the day of surgery, I often see that many grafts are taken from very high and very low in the back of the head at the margins of the "safe zone." If you look at bald men in their 50s-70s, most seem to have lost or markedly thinned out much of the hair at the top of the back of the head and the bottom above their neck.

Are there any LONG TERM studies of FUE graft survival for grafts taken from these at risk zones? What happens to FUE patients 20 years later, when these hairs would have fallen out-do they experience a loss of transplanted hair? Would you have to take finasteride for decades to preserve these grafts?

We all talk about yield and graft survival rates, but those seem to be in the short term. What happens 10 or more years later?

 

[follicle2001]

Anybody?

 

[stonecold]

From what i know the hair on the sides of your head are different from the hair at the top. Im guessing the doctors know how high up to go. Maybe some taken from the higher up end will die eventually as they were always destined to. However you will see that guys that are as bald as bald gets at the top still have super thick hair on the sides and they still grow at the normal rate. That hair will never die. There seems to be something in the dna of the hair on the top part of the head.

Even if you do lose some of the hair taken from the upper part of the back head, it will be a very slow process as most hair loss that happens quickest is from the crown and front hairline.

I read somewhere that even when the head from the top of the body was taken and placed on other parts of the body, it died naturally over time like male pattern baldness. But hair taken from the safe zone survives just like body hair.

Also, in 20years time, id be amazed if hair transplant were not so much more common. As in it possibly even being done at local salons.

I would also be amazed if a proper alternative to minoxidil has not been found. It does appear much better hair loss solutions are close but could take 5 years or so to hit the market. There is sooooo much money to be made in this and companies are now trying to cash in and find a much better cure.

 

[dr. cole]

There are a few points to know about FUE and strip surgery (FUT). Both procedures can have a loss of density over time. The culprit is more likely fractionation of the follicular group rather than the harvest location, but harvest location can be an issue too. Both scenarios underscore the danger of having an unlicensed individual perform your surgery as routinely happens in Europe and Turkey. You can bet that if the doctor uses assistants to harvest grafts, the doctor can't perform FUE. He can't perform FUE, it means that he does not understand that when you fractionate follicles from intact follicular groups, you sever the tie with the primary follicle. The loss of the primary follicle will later result in a loss of hair because secondary follicles lack a stem cell niche. The other thing to look for is the presence of telogen hairs as you harvest superiorly and inferiorly in the donor area. If the percentage of telogen hair begins to increase, you can bet that the sides are going to drop and the transplanted hair from this region will thin over time.