Veröffentlichungen

Follicular unit transplantation is the most commonlyperformed technique in modern restorative hair transplantationsurgery. It relies on the acquisition of intact follicular units frommicrodissected scalp skin strips and their subsequent transplanta-tion into the recipient regions affectedbyalopecia.Ideally,thetranslocation of follicular units from the balding-resistant areas ofthe scalp (usually the occipital region) to the recipient site shouldnot result in any morphological change in the grafts. Nevertheless,the insults associated with surgical intervention present graftedfollicles to mechanical and chemical cues differently from those ofthe physiological steady-state conditions in undamaged skin. Thisdisruption of the normal follicular microenvironment might alterimportant aspects of hair biology in grafts, for example, hair cycleand pigmentation, and, in turn, could lead to differences in hairappearance, eventually culminating in a diminished estheticaloutcome of the surgery. In this study, the authors analyzed nativeand grafted scalp hair follicles (HFs) from 2 patients who hadundergone follicular unit transplantation surgeries formerly.Scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy-based histo-morphometry revealed a marked enlargement of follicular struc-tures in the grafts with a concomitant increase in hair shaftdiameter. Immunohistological staining confirmed a thickening ofthe dermal sheath in transplanted HFs that also harbored a denservascular network. Taken together, these results show that thegrafted HFs analyzed were subjected to marked morphologicalchanges during their residence in the recipient site and thatthis phenomenon is associated with a modulation of follicularvascularization.