Carson85

Amazing results @Dr. Felipe Pittella. Do you know if the patient is using any medication as well?

A lot of the results depend on how good the patient’s beard donor hair is, but either way, a mind-blowing result. Pretty much full coverage everywhere, even the crown too. Obviously he probably has to keep his hair short, but I don’t think most of us would mind if we were in the same situation. The important thing is that there is almost no sign that he was once bald.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you on oral minoxidil too? I think you talked about it on youtube. Either way great results.

Hi @Dr. Felipe Pittella , did you only use beard grafts for this transplant or did you use grafts from other areas as well? How many grafts were used in total? Can I find this information on your instagram? (I tried looking but the graft numbers do not seem to be there). Thank you.

Hi @Dr. Felipe Pittella , when u get the chance, would u mind showing the results in the crown area as well? I believe we are all curious to see how it turns out. This is obviously only if the patient is fine with you sharing the results. I understand if this takes a few more months, since the crown can take longer to fill in and show results. Thanks.

@Melvin- Admin I was going to post this comment in the verteporfin thread, but I feel like it ties well into this specific case. Obviously the main interest with verteporfin is seeing if it is able to significantly regenerate follicles in the donor region of the scalp, which although seems promising, requires a lot more research. If things turn out the way we hope they do, is it worth exploring if verteporfin can be used to regenerate follicles in other areas, like the beard? Let’s use this case as an example, where there is literally no scalp donor at all (or it has been severly thinned out as well), and only beard and body grafts can be used for a transplant. Regeneration of beard follicles would definitely be a subject of interest in a case like this and maybe verteporfin can help regenerate beard follicles to a certain extent, if it is able to regenerate scalp follicles like we hope. Can anyone think of a reason as to why it may not work as well in the beard area? Obviously this is all very hypothetical, and there is a long way to go before this is even considered. Hopefully Dr. Bargouthi’s current trial can give us some positive results soon.

Wow, 11k from just the beard shown below? do you know if grafts from other places were used too and are you sure you’re not mistaking it with this other case from Dr. Pittella with 11k grafts? If so, that is insane.

Did your thinning body hair come back after discontinuing finasteride?

I think it is also worth noting that yes, body hair does not have the same nature as scalp hair, and usually stays short. However, for men with extreme baldness, they will probably be very happy with results like this, as long as they have enough hair growing out from the top of the scalp, that is sufficient enough to convince others that they are “not bald” and are keeping their hair short out of choice. It is obviously not the same quality of hair someone would have in their teenage years, but I don’t think it matters much, considering how much better this would be than their extreme baldness. I know I would be very happy if I were in the same situation.

@Melvin- Admin I also found this case from Dr. Pittella on Instagram that you also reposted: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4JMaa6vqkk/?igsh=MzB4NXVwOTF3YmM0 Do you know if only beard grafts were used in this case due to the poor scalp donor? If so, would you happen to know the breakdown? Also, is the large crown covered as well? I don’t see any shots from that angle, so just wondering. Regardless, this is also an amazing result from Dr. Pittella, and shows how underrated body hair grafts are when used by the right surgeon.

Obv the main interest is seeing if vert is able to significantly regenerate follicles in the donor region of the scalp, which still requires a lot more research. If things turn out the way we hope they do, is it worth exploring if vert can be used to regenerate follicles in other areas, like the beard? Let’s assume that a patient has significant baldness and a bad donor area, so many beard grafts need to be used too, but the patient would still like to keep a beard. Maybe vert can help regenerate beard follicles, if it is able to regenerate scalp follicles like we hope. Obviously this is all very hypothetical, and there is a long way to go before this is even considered.

Completely agree that it does seem to be doing something. Whether or not what it is doing can be significant enough to completely revolutionize hair transplants still needs to be researched further, and I think we all hope that Dr. Bargouthi’s trial gives a positive answer to this question. Only thing about downsides is that we don’t know if there are any long term side effects caused by vert

Great, definitely keep us updated on what he says/does

First of all, I think all of us can agree that we are grateful that Dr. Bloxham conducted this trial and continues to monitor his patients to see their results. The problem that I see with FUT is that a giant strip of skin with thousands of grafts was once there, which has been removed, stitched up, and left a scar behind that is only a couple of mm wide. Even if vert is able to regenerate hairs in that linear scar, it is in no way enough to help create an “unlimited” donor. Even if vert is able to generate new hairs in the scar line that matches the density of the surrounding hair, it is still nowhere even remotely close to how many hairs were once there. The area of interest was once a strip that was a couple of cm wide, but it is now a linear scar that is only a couple of mm wide. There is much less tissue on the scalp compared to how much there was before, therefore many less hairs that can be regenerated. However, this is not the case with FUE. The scalp area remains pretty much the same with FUE, so that may potentially hold promise in regenerating enough hair to expand the donor area. Obviously we don’t know if this is actually true yet, but hopefully Dr. Bargouthi’s recent trials show good results, and more doctors can replicate this. I hope this makes sense, and look forward to future results.

Have you heard of verteporfin being used in hair transplants and if so, what are your thoughts on it? Would you be interested in trying it on some of your patients, assuming they are willing to be periodically observed to see if it had any effect?