Punch grafts published
Okuda, a Japanese doctor, published punch autografts in the Japanese Journal of Dermatology and Urology. His round saw punch was 1 to 5 mm wide and took grafts with all skin layers and their follicles.[1][2]
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History
From punch grafts in 1939 to the robot in 2011: the steps that changed the treatment.
Timeline
Okuda, a Japanese doctor, published punch autografts in the Japanese Journal of Dermatology and Urology. His round saw punch was 1 to 5 mm wide and took grafts with all skin layers and their follicles.[1][2]
Hamilton published the types and incidence of patterned hair loss in men. Ludwig later referred cases of male-type loss in women to his scale.[1][2]
Orentreich published autografts in alopecia and the theory of donor dominance: grafts from the back of the scalp keep growing after they are moved. Modern hair transplantation dates from this paper.[1][2][3]
Norwood published a classification of male pattern baldness and its incidence by age in 1,000 white men, for use in planning hair transplants.[1]
Ludwig classified female pattern hair loss in three grades of diffuse thinning on the top of the scalp, separate from the male pattern.[1][2]
Headington's transverse sections of scalp biopsies showed hair growing in follicular units of 1 to 4 follicles. The unit became the basis of FUT and FUE.[1][2]
FDA approved Rogaine 2% minoxidil topical solution on August 17, 1988.[1]
Bernstein and colleagues published follicular transplantation, which moves hair only in its natural follicular units, harvested as one strip and split under a stereo microscope. Their 1997 paper set out hairline design for the method.[1][2]
FDA approved Propecia (finasteride 1 mg) for male pattern hair loss on December 19, 1997. Its trials enrolled 1,553 men aged 18 to 41.[1][2]
Rassman and colleagues published FUE, which removes each unit with a 1 mm punch and leaves no linear donor scar. Rassman coined the term.[1][2]
FDA cleared the HairMax LaserComb on January 18, 2007 to promote hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia.[1][2]
FDA cleared the ARTAS System on April 4, 2011 for harvesting follicular units in men with black or brown straight hair.[1][2]
A multicenter study of 1,404 patients on low-dose oral minoxidil found hypertrichosis in 15.1% and no life-threatening side effects.[1]
43 hair loss dermatologists from 12 countries agreed on 76 items for prescribing low-dose oral minoxidil off-label, including doses for adults and adolescents.[1]
Pioneers
Their papers set the methods in use today.
Japanese doctor who published punch grafts for hair transplantation in 1939.[1][2]
Published the first classification of patterned hair loss in men.[1]
Published donor dominance, the principle behind modern hair transplantation.[1][2]
Revised the male pattern baldness scale used to plan hair transplants.[1]
Classified female pattern hair loss in three grades.[1]
Described the follicular unit in transverse sections of the scalp.[1][2]
Co-author of the papers that defined follicular unit transplantation and follicular unit extraction.[1][2][3]
Co-developed follicular unit transplantation and coined follicular unit extraction in 2002.[1][2][3]
One of the surgeons who began the modern era of FUE; proposed the term follicular isolation technique.[1]
Lead author of the 1,553-man trials of finasteride 1 mg for male pattern hair loss.[1]
Led the 48-week trial of 5% vs 2% topical minoxidil in 393 men.[1]
Published the first study of oral minoxidil for female pattern hair loss, in 100 women.[1]