Power boosting the grafts in hair transplantation surgery. Evaluation of a new storage medium.

BACKGROUND. When performing hair transplantation procedures, it is of the foremost importance to try to obtain the maximum survival rate possible of transplanted micrografts. OBJECTIVE. Aim of this study was to evaluate, in an in vitro model, the effects of preserving micrografts, for five hours, in an enriched storage medium in order to enhance the survival rate of hair micrografts. METHODS. A total of 200 human anagen hair follicles was obtained from ten male patients. Follicles were thus randomly assigned to one of the following group: Group A (control; n = 100 follicles), preserved for five hours in saline, and Group B (experimental; n = 100 follicles), preserved for five hours in a storage medium, containing adenosine triphosphate-magnesium chloride and deferoxamine mesylate. Isolated hair follicles from both Groups were then cultured for 10 days. RESULTS. A statistically significant difference was found between the survival rate of experimental (98%) and control follicles (87%). CONCLUSION. In our opinion, a 'metabolic preconditioning' of micrografts by means of storing them for 5 hours in the described medium may be of some utility in augmenting the survival rate of hair grafts when performing hair transplantation surgery.