Examples of Burn Repair

Example 1

Grafts grow surprisingly well in scar tissue. This man sustained a burn as a child with resultant scarring of his scalp.

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As noted above, this gentleman sustained a burn as a child with the resultant scarring of his scalp. It is advisable, if the scarring consists of a significant surface area, to do a "test" to see if grafts will grown and if the blood supply will support a given density of grafting. The "Before" photo shows such a test pattern. The hair grew very well and eight months later the entire burn was transplanted. The result is shown in the "After" photo. Also shown is the opposite side of the scalp ("Control") to show the density and appearance that was the goal of transplantation. The density was accomplished to the patient's satisfaction with one session of minigrafts. Of interest is how patient hair characteristics impact the restoration plan. In this case, the patient, who is Vietnamese, has lower density distribution of larger hairs. This allows one session of transplantation to be satisfactory. Scalps of higher density would require more than one session.