Micrograft and minigraft megasession hair transplantation: review of 100 consecutive cases.

Exciting advances in hair transplantation have been introduced in recent years, particularly the use of a large number of micrografts (containing only one or two hairs) and minigrafts (containing three or four hairs) in a single hair transplantation megasession. A megasession consists of the placement of more than 1000 grafts in a single session. This study includes data from 105 consecutive micrograft and minigraft megasessions performed between March 1994 and August 1996 in 100 patients, with a follow-up of 5 months to 33 months. The patients included 96 men and four women whose ages ranged from 21 to 67 years, with an average age of 42 years. In this procedure a horizontal ellipse of scalp harvested from the donor's occipital area is used to make grafts under 3.5 loupe magnification. The grafts are inserted through slits in the recipient area, and the donor site is closed primarily. All of the procedures were done at my office surgical suite with the patients under intravenous sedation and local anesthesia. This procedure was found to be safe and predictable. The only complications encountered were a hypertrophic donor site scar in one patient (1%) and selfresolving ingrown hairs (cysts) in nine patients (9%). Ninety-seven patients (97%) were satisfied with the results obtained after one session. Three patients (3%) who were dissatisfied with the results after one session were pleased with the results obtained after a second procedure.