Megatransplant of follicle units

The basic principle of the surgery is to redistribute hair. Contrary to what one might think, new hair is not produced.

The surgery establishes a donating area and a receiving area. The donating area will supply the capillary follicles to the receiving one, or bald area. Once the follicles have been transplanted, hair will normally grow and can be combed at will, without any special care.

The donating area has immunity against baldness and the follicles that will be transplanted do not possess the genetic tendency to baldness. This means, therefore, that there will not be a new evolution in the case.

The location to where the follicles are transplanted does not directly influence baldness. The cause of baldness, or Androgenic Alopecia (AGA), lies on the genetic predisposition of the follicle to hair thinning (miniaturization) and not in the scalp itself.

Mega-, supermega- and gigasessions of capillary transplants

The term MEGASSESSION appeared in the 90´s, initially naming those procedures that surpassed 1,000 follicle units (FUs). This number increased considerably since it started being used, over fifteen years ago. Currently, a megassession is that which achieves up to 2,500 follicle units, which corresponds to 5,000 transplanted hairs in just one session. In order to differentiate a surgery where 2,500 FUs are transplanted from another where 4,000 FUs are transplanted, new denominations appeared, as follows:

SUPERMEGASSESSION – the transplant involves up to 8,000 hairs, which represents from 2,500 to 3,500 follicle units.

GIGASSESSION – a more current technique where 10,000 hairs might be transplanted, always depending on the amount of hairs in the donating area of each patient. This means the preparation of over 3,500 follicle units.

The Muricy Clinic already employs both techniques – super and gigassessions – aiming at transplanting the greatest number of hairs as possible in just one session. This procedure is performed when the donor area offers appropriate conditions, such as elasticity and number of hairs per square centimeter, and also the type of hair (texture, stem thickness, whether it is curly, straight or wavy, and contrast with the skin). Thus, the better the donating area, the greatest the number of hairs that get to be transplanted. It all depends on each patient.

The distribution of all these hairs must follow a certain logic, so the patient’s hair possesses a more natural look. So, preserving density, the angle, and direction of the hairs is fundamental for a natural look.

Capillary follicles may contain from one to four hairs. The hairs in the frontline are always disposed in follicle units with fewer hairs. In order to preserve naturalness, capillary transplant also transplants follicle units containing one hair in the first two or three lines, and one and two hairs meshed on the following two centimeters. This is a relevant detail to the final result of the surgery.

Megatransplant: the surgical procedure

At first, a pre-surgery exam is performed. Through this procedure, the patient is oriented and is assured of the surgery that will follow.

After the follicle units are removed, they must be classified, separated and prepared, one by one. This work demands able hands and focus to manipulate the grafts with the help of microscopes.

Putting the grafts in the bald area is an equally difficult laborious and artful. To perform this task, Doctor Muricy uses needles of various calibers, differentiated micro-blades, and micro-punches and slot-punches if the case thus demands. All the placement of the grafts aim to give the hair a natural appearance.

The precision of this task along with the challenge of obtaining the most natural appearance possible are what give megatransplant surgery the status of an art.

The entire procedure takes about four to five hours to be performed. It looks like a long time, but the patient will be asleep and will not notice anything.

The number of megatransplant surgery sessions varies for each case. Usually only two sessions are necessary, but there are extreme cases where a third session is recommended.

After the post-surgery procedures are performed, hair will grow back in about ten weeks.