I have just started my research on HT and I read that someone had a failed HT. How often does that occur if a reputable doctor does the procedure?

That is a good question. There are many definition in my opinion. In years past when they were doing plugs of 15-25 hairs, many patients were happy at the beginning because they had enough of there own hair to cover up the plugs therefore giving them a someone satifactory outcome. As years past and they began to lose they own hair there result became more unnatural and noticable. In my opinion when a doctor doesn't consider the future of the patient or his hairloss when he is perform a transplant this is a failed transplant in my eyes.
Giving a 20 year old kid that is NW3 a strong 20 years old hairline may seen at the beginning that it was a successful surgery but if that kid become a NW6 when he is 35 he will look very wierd with that hairline.
In realtistic terms, a failed transplant is one when all the grafts do not grow or your outcome is not the one that you are promised. In 99% of all cases this doesn't happen with a reputable doctor. Sometimes the patient has unrealistic expecations and even though the doctor has addressed them, he is not happy. There are some people that you will never make happy no matter what. Believe me there are some people that need to go see a mental doctor before they have a transplant because there pain is much deeper than loss of hair.
In my opinion there is much more failures in FUE than strip because of the aspect of blind harvesting. Although some people may disagree I have yet to see the same type of transformation in patients as I do with strip. I am only talking about the reputable doctors not the bad ones. Some doctors do have the patients best interest at heart but are not capable of achieving good results because of inexperience while other will prey on you to make the money and at the end to go to bed at night without worrying about it.
If you research enough and find the right doctor, the right expectation and the proper game plan there is not reason to have a failed transplant, in fact you will wonder why you did not do it sooner.

Thanks, lorenzo for the thorough explanation. What I was concerned about was the possiblity of going through all of this and spending so many $$$ only to find out that you end up with no more hair on top,a scar,fewer hairs in back and a drained bank account. Are you saying that even with the best of doctors, there is a 1% chance that the ht would fail? I don't mean b/c of unrealistic expectations - I mean where the hairs just don't grow or whatever and therefore there is no net improvement in the hairline.

go4it, It's pretty rare that an HT doesn't grow in, and everyone I've seen that has had one has come in. If a top-notch doctor gives you the green light to have one, you're probably going to be more than pleased at the results, as I and others were. I would only tell you to stick with one of the top 5 doctors, that mostly everyone here agrees on. There is always the possibility of complications as with any surgery, but that chance is greatly reduced in choosing a top doctor/clinic so no need to worry!

go4it; A hair transplant is cosmetic surgery will all surgery there is a small possiblity things can go wrong. With the top notch doctors this possible is considerably lower to even less than 1%. By saying this I mean not all the grafts grow but I have yet to see a case of this at H&W.

quote:

What I was concerned about was the possiblity of going through all of this and spending so many $$$ only to find out that you end up with no more hair on top,a scar,fewer hairs in back and a drained bank account.

Your concern is normal that is why you have forums like this is assist you on making a decision to get a transplant or not. Every patient that I have met along with three friends of mine are extremely happy after they see the results. You really have nothing to worry about if you pick the right doctor. Check patients photos and if possible meet patients live this will make you feel comfortable. Find the doctor you feel comfortable with and if it means travelling for 8 hours on a plane then do it, after all it is your hair and sometimes the best doctors are not near you.
Where do you live? Now old are you? How much hairloss do you have???

Keep looking at *all* the results from various doctors. You will see a range of growth rates, even from the best doctors. If the growth rate is low enough to not provide coverage, or the result looks unnatural, then that would be a failed HT.

I do not think it is a forgone conclusion that 99% of the time 99% of the grafts will grow. I observe a continum of results. Even some very fine haired individuals get stunning results from modest graft counts when all the grafts grow.

Check out my post on "If you want terrible results, I suggest Dr. Shagufta Khan". That shows what a failed transplant looks like. No density and improper hair flow are just some of the ways in which a HT can be judged as a failure.

If you want to make sure you dont have a failed hair transplant do your reasearch! It took me three years to finally decide on Dr Hasson. If you go to a top doctor you cant loose!

hey bud

It's really queit simply

RESEARCH = TOP DOC = TOP RESULTS

even a poor ht will yeald some growth , however in my opinion there has to be a good cosmetic end result , because after all that is what we are putting ourselve though the surgery and down time .

I'll just link you to this thread from dr Feller

http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7466060861/m/2721070773

in it he describes how surgeons must take the minimul risk to increase the odds for having an outstading result , very clear and writen by one of the best in the business .

Its deffo worth a read

hope that helps
richie

quote:

RESEARCH = TOP DOC = TOP RESULTS

Richie put it best above..

why risk it?? Go with a proven winner!