Dear Forum Members,

As many of you know, we gather as much information as possible about a physician, their staff, technique and track record before they are even considered for recommendation on the Hair Transplant Network. Part of our review process involves getting input from patients and the members of this forum community. To learn more about this review process, click here.

I would appreciate this community's input on the potential recommendation of Dr. Rosanelli on the Hair Transplant Network. At this time, Dr. Rosanelli is only being considered for recommendation, not the Coalition. To see our standards for recommendation, click here.

This past April, I visited and observed Dr. Rosanelli in live surgery and was very impressed with his dedication to high quality follicular unit hair transplantation and his personal attention to each of his patients. To see the highlights of my visit, view the "Visit to Dr. Tom Rosanelli in San Francisco".

Dr. Rosanelli has been performing hair transplants exclusively for almost 20 years and is a Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. As a sole practitioner, Dr. Rosanelli takes provide in providing his patients with personal attention and provides each of his patients with his personal cell phone number.

Dr. Rosanelli and his dedicated and experienced staff of 10 medical technicians operate out of San Francisco, CA. While Dr. Rosanelli has an experienced staff large enough to perform over 3000 grafts in a single session, Dr Rosanelli believes that sessions under 3,000 grafts provide his patients with optimal graft survival and growth.

Dr. Rosanelli uses a single blade to excise the donor area to minimize the risk of transection and uses a double layer closure to reduce wound tension and the appearance of the donor scar. Dr. Rosanelli believes using the trichophytic closure technique is best reserved for the last surgery in order to maximize use of the donor area for subsequent sessions. All follicular units are dissected and trimmed under microscopes and carefully placed into the recipient sites by his experienced staff to maximize hair growth yield.

Dr. Rosanelli uses blades as small as .8mm to carefully create recipient incisions to mimic natural hair direction and minimize trauma to the scalp.

Given Dr. Rosanelli's dedication to high quality follicular unit hair transplantation, I believe he should be considered for recommendation.

Patient and surgical examples can be found below:

3908 Grafts in Multiple Sessions with Dr. Rosanelli

5377 Grafts in Multiple Sessions with Dr. Rosanelli

3617 Grafts in 3 Sessions with Dr. Rosanelli

1225 Grafts Post-Op with Dr. Rosanelli

3819 Grafts in 2 Sessions with Dr. Rosanelli

2320 Grafts in 1 Session with Dr. Rosanelli

I welcome input and comments from forum members regarding his potential recommendation.

Not overly impressed.

Also, why 3 sessions for 3600 grafts???

Do we have any grown out photos of patients who have received 2500+ grafts in a single session?

Thanks,
Jason

Edited to reflect a correct question.

Jason,

Dr. Rosanelli and his staff only perform sessions up to 3000 grafts as noted above.

I too am personally impressed by larger sessions, but from what I've seen, Dr. Rosanelli is still getting great results. It just takes more time and surgeries to get there.

Also remember that he is only being considered for recommendation at this time rather than the Coalition. Coaltion mebership requires surgeons to perform regular sessions larger than 2500 grafts when appropriate for the patient.

I encourage all members to refamiliarize themselves with our standards for recommendation and how it differs from the Coalition.

Best wishes,

Bill (Falc)

I think additional work of sessions in the ~2500 range that show clear growth and artistic touch would be nice. The work looks pretty solid; but, while "huge" sessions shouldn't be the end-all/be-all, impressive sessions of the ~2500 range would certaintly be nice to see. Also, sessions exemplifying high(er) density.

I have a pretty moderate attitude towards recco's; they should all certaintly be of competent doctors that are in a class well above your average bloke or hair-mill. But, when I factor in the reality of the "patient pool", and how decisions often end up going down, I'm not sure how beneficial it is to have a radically small, elite handfull of clinics as opposed to a more (geographically) encompassing field of physicians that all perform solid work. At the end of the day, as well, cream -- err, results -- will rise to the top for people to see.

looks solid, but not world class. I'm also not impressed.

For your review, Dr. Rosanelli added another photo album.

3819 Grafts in 2 Sessions with Dr. Rosanelli

Best wishes,

Bill (Falc)

I went through and visited each collection of photos in the order presented. Let me start by saying that before any consideration is given to this Doctor - even for recommendation - we need to see more pre, during and post op photos.

The 1225 case is one whereby every single one of us would tell the patient that 1225 grafts on a NW5 (just guessing) would produce very inadequate results, especially when spread out over such a large area. If the doctor is trying to present this as his best work - which is why he has selected this crop of photos - what is the rationale to go along with this case?

Next is Mr. 3617 graft case. The results look pretty good, but I feel bad that a patient had to wait 36 months for full growth when it could be achieved in as little as 12 months with one mega-session, that would also save the patient thousands of dollars. Is this a recent case? Or did this start many, many years ago and only recently does he do larger cases?

5377 Grafts - I can't even review this as the post-op photos are so far away and are 'studio' photos with proper lighting, etc. to make everything look perfect. This is not impartial photography that I expect us to base any form of valuable opinion on.

3908 Graft Repair Case is honestly the most impressive to me. What does 'multiple' sessions mean? 4, 5, 6? This is where FUE appeals to me as no old grafts would have to be removed and then sutured.

I hope nobody thinks I'm being harsh, but rather, I am holding this Doctor to the same standards I would expect this site to place on any recommended Physician. As it stands, without any further photographic evidence or patient contribution of photos relative to their expectations, I would not support his recommendation.

I agree with what has been stated here.

Six sessions for the 5317 case?? You have to be kidding. The down time and the healing for each of these procedures would drive me nuts. I am going crazy waiting for results, I couldn't wait six years for the results I feel I would get in one megasession.

Some of the results look good, others decent, but the road to get there for me would not be worth it. These guys must have a ton of patience.

Not sure about recommendation.

It appears that the majority of you feel that the presented results look good however, are not very happy with the number of sessions it took to get there.

Dr. Rosanelli did comment on a number of the albums to explain his approach. On the multiple session in particular, he commented that he started on this patient years ago and today, he'd be able to accomplish the same result in 2 sessions.

Admittedly, for appropriate patients, it's nice to be able to walk into a clinic and get one or two megasessions and be done as opposed to having to go into surgery another time or two to accomplish the same result. However, despite the convenience and preference of larger sessions to many, I believe what matters the most is the end result. In my opinion, the end result in the above presented examples look good in every result case.

Since Dr. Rosanelli performs sessions between 2000 and 3000 grafts when appropriate for the patient, I will send an email to Dr. Rosanelli to present a few more examples showing this.

Best wishes,

Bill (Falc)

Not impressed with most of the DR's results, but this could be because his clinic needs to learn how to take pictures.

I totally agree with thanatopsis awry
Top doctors have the staff and capabilities to possibly have you one and done when appropriate.
Alot of doctors use the "maximize growth" as an excuse for several smaller sessions.
Its more like maximize your wallet.
Its been shown over and over this isnt necessarily true
If anything a second procedure could possibly lead to an overall less growth then dense pack, with one reason being scar tissue .
If one session could possibly be done safely with 3200 grafts ,alot of clinics would rather do 2000 then another 1200 to get there.
Dense pack growth rates have been shown to grow at a high percentage everday on the forums.
Unfortunately alot of clinics still ignore this.
They aren't the one with staples in their head for 10 days, looking unnatural until the second procedure grows in .
2 years of concealers and hats opposed to a possible one sucks bigtime
The top clinics consistently show pictures of one surgery that can stand on its own.
I understand this cant apply to every patient but when it could it should ,and I dont see this from alot of these clinics.
We all love and expect the WOW result but also getting a patient back to living life asap should at the top of a clinics list.
To me its almost like a woman getting one breast enhanced then a year later the other one done.
Thats a miserable year .
Its nice to see clinics getting better but as of now I would have to say no also.

Dear forum members,

It seems that the majority of members agree that Dr. Rosanelli does solid work however, most are not thrilled with the fact that the majority of examples show single sessions less than 1500 grafts. Though the end result is what matters most, I do agree that it's important for doctors being considered for recommendation (not the Coalition) to be able to do sessions close to if not equal to 2000 grafts of quality follicular unit hair transplantation with stellar growth.

In sharing your concerns with Dr. Rosanelli, he agrees that it's important that you see additional examples of his work. One example, I have already presented above. Another example is below.

2320 Grafts in One Session with Dr. Rosanelli

Kudos to Dr. Rosanelli for addressing the concerns of this community and presenting additional examples of his work for your evaluation.

Best wishes,

Bill (Falc)

I think the solid part from any poster was the final result of multiple sessions to obtain the same results the top clinics achieve in one.
So saying the majority agree the work is solid is like saying, hey that girl is pretty, pretty ugly.
Or driving around McDonalds drive-thru 3 times hoping to get full.
Nothing against the doctor but solid is a bit of a stretch at this time.
Getting my dome sliced opened 3 times oppossed to one is not what I call solid
Sucka comes to mind though.

Thanks to everyone who shared their input regarding Dr. Rosanelli's recommendation. I also appreciate Dr. Rosanelli responding to our requests for more photos of his patient results, in particular those exceeding 2,000 FU grafts.

Having visited his clinic ( see visit highlights ) and other clinics in the Bay Area after extensive research, I'm convinced that Dr. Rosanelli and his large experienced staff do very solid follicular unit grafting, with the capability to do large sessions that are unmatched in the area.

I also believe that his photographic documentation of his past work has been lacking. However, he has gained a newfound appreciation of the importance of taking multiple good photos and has invested in new digital photo gear. I expect his future photos will be more inline with what we would all like to see.

Ultimately we are not reviewing Dr. Rosanelli and his staff for their photography skills but their skill and capability to provide state of the art follicular unit hair transplantation. I believe they have this capability and will provide hair loss sufferers in the Bay Area with a very solid option for surgical hair restoration if they choose to do surgery in the Bay Area.

I would like to move ahead with recommending Dr. Rosanelli and his impressive staff to hair loss sufferers in Northern California. In time if he and his staff demonstrate the ability to perform dense packed and ultra refined sessions exceeding 2,500 with demonstrated excellent results, he will be eligible for consideration for membership in the Coalition.

Onwards and Upwards, Pat

quote:

I would like to move ahead with recommending Dr. Rosanelli and his impressive staff to hair loss sufferers in Northern California

Hmm OK ! So the forum members input on this didnt seem to matter.

Hey tri city Dakota . Pat said IF he and his staff demonstrate the ability to perform dense packed and ultra refined sessions exceeding 2,500 with demonstrated excellent results, he will be eligible for consideration for membership in the Coalition.

They havent shown that yet

quote:

Hey tri city Dakota

PGP, HUH?

Pat is going to be recomending Dr. Rosanelli though.

Dakota,

I'm not sure why just because we're going to move ahead with recommending Dr. Rosanelli why you feel that member input didn't matter.

When considering all the data we've collected, we see no compelling reason why he shouldn't be recommended.

I think some members may be confusing our criteria for recommendation with the Coalition. And whether or not you agree with it, recommended surgeons are not required to perform larger megasessions.

Dr. Rosanelli and his staff have proven to perform solid follicular unit hair transplantation with excellent growth and meets our set standards for recommendation.

I trust that as Dr. Rosanelli continues to present examples of his work every month, that his level of skill and artistry will shine forth, especially since he has bought a professional camera and has learned the importance of taking good photos showing multiple angles.

Though not everyone will agree with every decision we make, I hope you will all trust and respect our decision to proceed with his recommendation.

Best wishes,

Bill (Falc)

Dakota you are right. As long as Ive been on here I still forget about the two different levels of Doctors .
I only go by my top 5 maybe 6or 7 and all the others dont even get thought when recommending a doctor.
I honestly think the work is borderline crappy but hey who am I ?
Most people are nice by nature and before they share their true negative feelings they usually add a simple compliment to soften the blow.
Thats what happened on here .
Not one of us gave him the full thumbs up.
Dakota I had my post so screwed up I really meant to call you tri state Dakota .
Thanks for correcting me