Abstract
In contemporary hair restoration practice, harvesting grafts outside of the traditional safe donor zone has become commonplace. This occurs because of the need to avoid overharvesting, to homogenize the appearance of the donor, and to obtain the maximal lifetime donor grafts with follicular unit excision (FUE). In the majority of practices, grafts harvested from outside the safe zone are not treated any differently than those harvested from inside the safe zone, despite being more likely to be dihydrotestosterone (DHT) sensitive and to not survive as long as those from inside the safe zone when transplanted.1 The author proposes several strategies to intentionally place grafts harvested from outside the safe zone that optimize the utility of these grafts and minimize potential problems created by their use.
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