Dr. Lindsey 2nd case on young man with hair loss after brain cancer

As some of you may know, my daughter Julia had brain cancer last year. As a result of that, I have come to know only too well, the multiple layers of problems that both the patient and family undergoes.



This 16 year old boy came to see me in the early spring. Like Julia, he had brain cancer requiring surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. He had 2 distinct areas on his left parietal/occipital (left back corner) scalp that had received the most radiation during treatment, and he had no hair in these areas.



In April, I attempted an FUE but was unable to really get any significant grafts as the scalp was just too "woody", and we converted him to a 700 graft strip. I was quite worried about graft growth, as these hairs had been irradiated too, and I was concerned about infection and scarring in the donor area. All 700 grafts were placed pretty high and he rolled in in early July with some good hair growing!



We opted to do a second procedure lower down in mid August before school starts. I re-excised his old scar and his scalp was really quite different to work with. It felt like non-irradiated tissue, so we did an FUE attempt also. Out of about 50 attempts we got almost 100% FUE harvest, possibly the first FUE done on an irradiated scalp.



Shown are preop, 1st operation, July, and 2nd operation pictures. We got a bit over 1500 grafts with the second case and if it grows like the first case, he is likely to be done with any hair work.



He won't be back until fall school break, so I doubt if I will have any more pics til then.



As many of you may imagine, I am quite proud to have had the chance to work with this nice fellow.



Dr. Lindsey McLean VA