2500 CIT on front of class 4 - 29 months post-op results

[John P. Cole, MD]

Below are pre-op and post-op photo comparisons that depict a 24 month result of a class 4 potential class 5 patient who desired an overall thicker front via CIT (Cole Isolation Technique), a non-strip hair transplant method. The patient has medium fine, wavy hair and slightly above average donor density of about 200 hairs per square centimeter with 180 hairs/cm2 being about the average. Dr. Cole’s treatment plan was to strategically transfer about 2500 CIT grafts to the front in order to minimize shock loss. Shock loss is usually a temporary condition that generally occurs when pre-existing hair is shed due to trauma from newly transplanted follicles. For most patients, shock loss is catastrophic and can cause significant inconvenience for at least a couple of months after a hair restoration procedure.

We prefer to perform CIT on all patients because it provides them with an average of about 2.9 hairs per graft and a transaction rate of 0% to 2%. More hair per graft can exponentially benefit patients who have higher degrees of hair loss. The process effectively utilizes scalp donor resources by allowing harvested grafts to be transplanted intact without being fractionated. The procedure affords the physician the ability to selectively choose every donor follicular unit to ensure the best follicles are harvested to successfully complete the restoration procedure. For those who don’t have non-strip methods performed should understand that they could be paying multiple times for many of their donor follicular units. The coverage value of each follicular unit affects the end result.

If a photo is worth a thousand words, these photos say it all. Finally, the patient’s self-conscience behavior has turned into self-confidence and the new appearance is remarkable. Here is another successfully treated patient who has also avoided the linear scar of strip method.

[CIT]

This patient is esstatic about the new growth! The loss was significant and needed as much coverage value from the donor area as possible. This is an example of how not only can we "cherry-pick" the donor for the more robust follicular units, but we can harvest an average of 2.9 hairs per graft. This parameter is most beneficial for patients who suffer from advanced classes of hair loss. Best of luck to this patient!