Donor Cell Rejection - Bernstein Medical - Center for Hair Restoration
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Q: I just started to lose my hair but it’s just in one spot, like a circle on the left side of my head. Do you ever do a hair transplant just into a bald spot and not the whole head? — D.F., Esher, U.K.

A: It is possible to have a hair restoration procedure into a single bald spot. However, it would be most beneficial to first determine the cause of the condition.

Bald spots caused by alopecia areata (an autoimmune disease) are best treated with injections of steroids into the scalp, rather than with a hair transplant. In fact, the transplanted hair can be rejected in patients with this condition.

Traumatic scars (i.e. from an accident) can be treated with follicular unit hair transplantation as the hair grows quite well in scar tissue, as long as the scar is not thickened (hypertrophic).

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Q: I was reading the hair cloning area on your site and came across this passage:

“Donor cells can be transferred from one person to another without being rejected. Since repeat hair implantations did not provoke the typical rejection responses, even though the donor was of the opposite sex and had a significantly different genetic profile, this indicates that the dermal sheath cells have a special immune status and that the lower hair follicle is one of the body’s ‘immune privileged’ sites.”

Does this mean that I could get a hair transplant from someone else’s head of hair one day? Any type of hair?

A: Yes, in theory we will be able to use someone else’s donor tissue to clone hair – but the technology to actually do this is still years away.

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Hair loss has a variety of causes. Diagnosis and treatment is best determined by a board-certified dermatologist. We offer both in-person and online photo consults.

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