Single-follicular-unit hair transplantation to correct cleft lip moustachealopecia

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 res toration in a single procedure. Setting: The surgery was performed in an outpatient private practice settin g using oral sedation and local anesthesia. Results: Advances in instrumentation technology and an increased understand ing of the anatomical clustering of hair follicles into so-called "follicul ar units" containing one to six hairs per unit has resulted in a rapid expa nsion of hair restoration surgery into new areas including female-pattern a lopecia, scarring alopecias, and cosmetic surgery scars. These new techniqu es can be employed to create natural-looking hair lines in front of artific ial 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.