Single-follicular-unit hair transplantation to correct cleft lip moustache alopecia

Abstract

Objective: To present the case of an 18-year-old boy with a cleft lip scar and an obligatory need for facial hair who underwent single-follicular-unit graft hair transplantation that resulted in significant moustache hair restoration in a single procedure.

Setting: The surgery was performed in an outpatient private practice setting using oral sedation and local anesthesia.

Results: Advances in instrumentation technology and an increased understanding of the anatomical clustering of hair follicles into so-called "follicular units" containing one to six hairs per unit has resulted in a rapid expansion of hair restoration surgery into new areas including female-pattern alopecia, scarring alopecias, and cosmetic surgery scars. These new techniques can be employed to create natural-looking hair lines in front of artificial hair replacement systems; to improve unnatural looking, old "large-plug" hair transplants; and to correct discontinuity of eyebrows and hairlines in patients with congenital facial clefts. Increased awareness is needed to incorporate follicular-unit graft hair transplant surgery into the family of corrective surgery subspecialties.