Falc,

you stated the following on another thread (the Dr. E thread) and I wanted to start a new thread to address these issues, so as not to disrupt the other:


"Other physiological factors can come into play that might "choke" the transplanted hairs causing a "failed hair transplant". Some examples of this could include infection or scarring of the scalp before or after the hair transplant procedure. Medical conditions that cause other types of hair loss could also be a factor in some cases, such as one case I heard about recently where there was poor growth due to alopecia areata..."
-Falc.......................

How rare are these conditions and what causes them respectively?

Also, in the case of infection specifically, can this be caused by poor post-op care by the patient himself? Either way, can it be detected early on, thereby minimizing or completely abolishing it's adverse effects on growth/yield?

In the case of "quirky physiological factors," I have heard Dr. Feller state that these can (rarely) come into play causing the transplanted hair to "thin" a couple years after the transplant; but I have *never* heard of a case where physiological factors can cause poor growth and/or yield, rather the event of grafts just not "taking," has always (by reputable docs) been attributed to mishandling of grafts and/or a poor procedure in general via some form of human error on the part of the clinic performing the procedure. Is there any evidence that physiological factors could cause grafts to simply "not take" on some patients?

notgoing2gobald,

Well, I would say that these physiological factors are rare and I couldn't even tell you all of them, since doctor's often refer to the "X" factor of the unknown variables that may lead to a failed procedure. But given that the majority of hair transplants (at least via strip) are successful, these other factors appear to be far and few between.

I do know however, that transplanting grafts into scarred or infected tissue may result in a lesser growth yield. I haven't heard any cases of infection being caused as a result of poor postoperative care however, infection can happen which is a known potential risk of surgery. How badly that will impact hair growth yield will determine on how soon it's caught and dealt with - in most cases, it probably won't impact hair growth yield, I'd think.

I'd love to get a physician's feedback on this.

Falc

The 'x' factor:

this is interesting because this is what Dr. E is citing as an explanation (which is outside the hands & thereby responsibility of the doc in question) of some of his patients.
I recall one of Shapiro's patient educator's stating that the 'x' factor, is non-existent; that is, that he believes if there is poor yield or poor growth, it is a result of some human error in the clinic who performed the surgery. His explanation is in two of his posts on the following thread, which by my lights, precludes the notion of some "mysterious" 'x' factor, unless there are def. causes which can be pinned down (i.e. cigarette smoking, etc,):
http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/346...111027073#8111027073

Additionally, the only other doc (or only doc) I have heard discuss this was Feller. His explanation of the 'x' factor, though he did not use that phrase, was that *some* patients, although extremely rare, will experiencing thinning of the transplanted hair a couple years after the proceduure,
-BUT-
*that* is a much different phenomena than poor yield/growth and *that* is the ONLY thing he attributed to the 'x' factor...

any thoughts?
has anyone ever heard of a top notch doc discussing the 'x' factor as it relates to poor yield/growth?...

Could the "X factor" be atypical hair follicle physiology that doesnt respond as well to typical planting depth or harvesting/cutting techniques? My doctor made several observations about the characteristics of my scalp and follicles.

There could even be micro viruses or bacteria that the patients immune system is fighting at just the wrong time which causes poor growth.

There are a few examples of patients who had almost non-existant growth and then went to a coalition doc and saw great growth on their 2nd and 3rd procedures.

This has got to be one of the scariest and perplexing issues in hair transplantation for both patients and doctors.

I watch the results and see a range of growth rates even from the best clinics. Guys like Bobman must have had great characteristics and 100% growth.

so wait what your saying is after you get a transplant you can't smoke?