This patient recently posted his experience and asked me to add his photos. He had 3021 grafts placed in one session.

http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7466060861/m/9291074673

Strip method with tricophytic closure
Lateral slit technique
High density graft placement technique
727 single hair grafts
1749 two hair grafts
514 three hair grafts
31 four hair grafts

Dense pack, lateral slit.
Well done!

Hi Steve,

I hope all is well. The pictures look great!!

Dr. Gabel,

Nice use of the lateral slit technique! I see a few sagitals toward the sides and temples too. This patient will be very pleased after it all grows in I'm sure. Thanks for posting

Best wishes,

Falc

this looks awsome, i think good work cannot be mistaken.
this guy will be very happy in 12 months i am certain.

Dr. Gabel,

Just curious as to why additional grafts were not taken out and added to the crown? Maybe a 1000 or 1500 extra.

The recipient area looks really good, but as a patient with no hair in the crown I wonder why he would not want to have some grafts in the crown as well.

Thanks.

Eman

The planned procedure on this patient was to obtain as many grafts as possible to maximize the coverage. I harvested a large strip on this patient from temple to temple. His donor density was average in the posterior crown region, but the temples were not as dense. I was hoping for 3500 - 4000 grafts, but the number of pure follicular units obtained was just over 3000.

We use 100% microscopic dissection for our transplants to minimize/eliminate any transection of follicular units and obtain pure follicular units as they existed in the scalp. I also do not cut up the follicular units just to obtain higher graft counts either. What naturally comes in bundles/follicular units is what we transplant.

As of now, the plan is to allow the transplanted area to grow out and we will reassess the results in one year. As I discussed with the patient, if he then desires, we can transplant the crown.

Steven Gabel, M.D.
Portland, Oregon
503-693-1118

Dr. Gabel,

Thanks for the reply. It is nice to hear the reason/plan for a patient. It is nice to hear a doctor's response, so as patients we can understand some of the decision making processes and ultimate decisions that are made.

Much appreciated,
Eman

Dr. Gable,

I'm curious about your statement above. You mentioned that you do not divide follicular units during surgery to obtain higher graft counts but you keep them together as they grow naturally. Are you aware of any clinics that do divide follicular units in a manner "just" to inflate graft numbers? If so, which clinic or clinics are you referring to?

Obviously you havent been lurking on these boards much doc but there are plenty that give us that impression .
I dont know much but it kind of sounds like you believe he might be implicating you.
We all know better. Well at least I do.
I completly agree with Dr Gabel not splitting units to obtain higer graft counts but I think there are plenty of times where you MUST split some into ones.

By the way very very nice work,and great pictures Im super impressed with the postop work .
Like Feller said densepack lateral slit Well done

Dr. Hasson

I clearly did not mention any particular clinics with my response to Eman, and yet, I get a post from Joe, which vaporized like it never existed, and your post appears in its place.

Why is your clinic so defensive over my statement that I personally don't advocate the splitting of grafts to increase session sizes?

Dr. Gable,

That is exactly my point. You make the implication but clearly avoid specifying who does this. If you are aware of clinics who do this, I would like to know who you think they are.

Very simply, actually...

I'm so sick of hearing about this spitting of grafts. I'm trying to add more photos, but until then...take a look at my RESULTS! I was a norwood 6+! So if anyone is able to achieve this kind of density out of 8,000 FU's by spitting grafts...SHOW ME! Here is my website until I can figure out how to add photos to this post:
http://www.hairlosshelp.com/websites/Bobman/

Before_and_After_2.jpg (57 Kb, 15 downloads)

Bobman are you saying you think Dr Gable is accusing H@W of splitting grafts to obtain higher graft counts .
Just wondering because I havent heard about this possibility in a LONG time yet all of a sudden your sick of it.
Yes you have great results that your type of density would be hard to obtain by over splitting grafts.
Maybe there is some behind the scenes talk going on but Dr Gable just made a statement not a outright accusation.
Asking him to reveal who he may or may not think splits grafts is like asking Dr Hasson why he doesnt call out Armani for the bullshit he does.

Dr. hasson

Please show me where in my statement I accused anyone of splitting grafts.

And you did not answer my question, why is your clinic so defensive over my statement that I personally don't advocate the splitting of grafts to increase session sizes?

The sudden and aggressive attitude on the part of dr. hasson, jotronic, and even one his patients, is disturbing and uncalled for.

I posted one of my patients to demonstrate the kind of consistent megasession work I perform in my Portland clinic and find myself attacked for what can only be interpreted as a paranoid perception of words.

Believe it or not, I do not have dr. hasson or any other HT doc on my mind when I answer questions from the public. If dr. hasson can accept this fact, then he would realize that his unique interpretation of my words was way off base.

My point was to make sure that I MYSELF am not accused of graft splitting, and that I wouldn’t stoop to this technique just to artificially inflate the number of grafts used and perhaps appear to cover a larger area. There was no reference to any other physician or clinic in that statement. This was a direct answer to a direct question by Eman. It had nothing to do with HIM.

What is more curious is dr. hasson’s extreme reaction to the wrong interpretation of these words. I must wonder if my practice were situated a few thousand miles from his, instead of a few hundred, would he have been bothered at all.

Steven Gabel, M.D.
Portland, Oregon
503-693-1118

Dr. Hasson and Dr. Gabel,

I think you both are being a little over sensitive on this topic.

By discussing his own personal clinical practices, Dr. Gabel's post answered Eman's question about this particular patient. In my opinion, it is unfair to assume that he was making an implication that Hasson and Wong split follicular unit grafts.

On the flip side, I can understand why Dr. Hasson and his staff are a bit sensitive about this subject because on more than one occasion patients and physicians alike have accused them (some implicit and some explicit) of regularly splitting follicular grafts to inflate graft counts. Unfortunately therefore, the topic of "splitting grafts" has become somewhat attached to Hasson and Wong simply because of their consistent higher graft counts, which I believe to be highly unfair.

That said, I encourage Hasson and Wong not to take general statements so personally and let their impressive results speak for themselves.

Best wishes,

Falc