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October 2002

Growth Rate Of Hair Affected By Transplantation Site

Does the recipient site influence the hair growth characteristics in hair transplantation?

The growth and survival rate of transplanted hair is affected by the recipient site.

Before this study, it was believed that transplanted hairs would maintain their characteristics after transplantation from one site to the new anatomic site. Dr S Hwang and colleagues from the Departments of Dermatology and Immunology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Taegu, Korea, performed three studies to investigate the truth of this belief.

The first study involved hair transplantation from the author's occipital scalp to his lower leg, with evaluations at six months and three years after the transplantation.

At three years after transplantation, 60.2 percent of hairs survived. The surviving hairs on the leg showed a lower growth rate, but the same diameter compared with occipital hairs.

The second study took the leg hairs that had been transplanted and retransplanted them to the left side of the nape of the neck.

As a control, occipital hairs were transplanted to the opposite side of the nape of the neck. Six months later, there were no significant differences in the growth rate, shaft diameter, and survival rate between retransplanted hairs and the control hairs.

Both groups showed a lower growth rate, but the same diameter, compared with occipital hairs.

In the third study, 12 patients with androgenetic alopecia were observed about one year after transplantation of occipital hair to frontal scalp. There was no significant difference in the growth rate and shaft diameter between transplanted hairs and the occipital hairs.

Dr Hwang concluded, "These results strongly suggest that the recipient site affects some characteristics of transplanted hairs such as their growth and survival rates."