Should surgeons report grafts count break downs?

[Cant decide]

I agee. I think most docs would say 80 if they had to put a number to it.

[JohnnyDrama]

Actually, back on topic of graft counts......I'm hoping for big things from my own procedure in the stat regards at least. Dr Bisanga calculated my donor at 80/85/80 (he used the term 'very good'), with very favourable groupings.

 

Of my 2000 planned FUE grafts, he said 1700-1800 will be midscalp, and 200-300 to strengthen the hairline. The 1700-1800, I'm hoping, will be all 3 and 4 hair bad-boys.

 

My hair is medium-fine, so I'll need those high groups to give me a hand!

[Cant decide]

Another thing to note which may or may not be well known by patients is that donor density (NOT hair to graft ratio but rather grafts per sq cm) goes down with each procedure done by an average of 30%. For example, my average donor density was 118 grafts/sq cm before my first procedure. If that 30% number holds then before my next procedure, I will be at an average of about 83 grafts per sq cm.

[Mickey85]

Graft breakdowns should be shown along with the result.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Nick,

 

Years ago, Patrick Hennessey (publisher of the Hair Transplant Network) strongly encouraged physicians to provide detailed hair count breakdowns along with each procedure. In fact, his signature line read "Count hairs, not grafts" for the longest time.

 

The reality is, the number of hairs can vary in similar graft counts from patient to patient and thus, significantly affect the end result. In other words, 3000 grafts where the average hair count is 2.4 (7200 hairs) will most likley look significantly more dense in the same patient if the average hair count is 1.4 (4200 hairs). From patient to patient, obviously, other factors are at play as well - including hair caliber, scalp to hair color contrast ratio, placement of the grafts/hairs, etc.

 

Of course, in order to obtain the average number of hairs per graft, hair count breakdowns including a total count of 1, 2, 3 and 4 haired grafts is necessary.

 

In my opinon, all physicians should be providing these numbers to their patients. But the only way that all physicians will begin calculating and presenting these numbers regularly is if patients ask for and demand them.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Nick153452]

In my opinon, all physicians should be providing these numbers to their patients. But the only way that all physicians will begin calculating and presenting these numbers regularly is if patients ask for and demand them.

 

I agree, and I find it unethical for them to not provide it to clients. However, as I was trying to say, they don't make very strong cases when they present grafts alone in their success stories. For me, I usually say, "Okay, that looks like a good result", but not much information is there to determine whether or not it is truly a work of art, or just a patient with abnormally large multi-hair grafts. That is to say, I find it almost unethical for them to report these results in the gallery, in hopes of boosting their clinics reputation, without presenting this information. It's deceptive. Reporting this information in the description would literally take less than a minute.

[agenteye]

I agree. This should be available in every patient chart, and a copy given to each patient with their post-op care/information packet. A patient shouldn't have to even ask the clinic for it....it should just be a courtesy. I was given a detailed assessment of the different groupings of hairs as grafts, and a total hair count.....along with the density placed, and in what regions of my scalp the grafts were placed!! If all clinics did this as common-practice every time, it would help the members of the forums who are undecided on who they are going to choose as their restoration surgeon, and would help them to make a decision on who they feel good about having their procedure with. I think it would help to compare results on a more even playing field if this information were readily-available.....consistently!!! Just my .02!

[Nick153452]

Yes, I agree. Especially when that's the entire point of the surgery; transplanting hair. Why would that not be important in the presentation of the case, or why would they not think for that to be valuable information? That's like going to the dentist and getting fillings, without knowing how many fillings you got. Or going to the doctor because you're sick and them not telling you what you got, but getting prescribed medicine... It just really don't make sense to me.

 

I think that should be one of the standards for posting results on the site. Otherwise, the results may be misleading.