IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 19, Issue 9 Ser.5 (September. 2020), PP 52-57 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0853-1909055257 www.iosrjournal.org 52 | Page Use of Beard Donor Hair in Fue Hair for Advanced Androgenic Alopecia Dr R V Kumar 1 and Dr M S Abirami 2 1 ENT surgeon, Nesam hospital, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu 2 Dermatologist, Nesam hospital, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu Abstract Introduction: Hair transplantation is one of the most common cosmetic procedures for men all over the world with demand for higher density and treatment of extensive hair loss. Beard hair FUE grafts can be successfully used either alone or in combination with scalp hair in cases of advanced grades of baldness, for improving the cosmetic appearance of hairlines, when there is paucity of donor scalp hair. Objective: The objective of our study is to demonstrate the use of beard hair grafts to increase the visual density and for better coveragefor advanced Norwood grades of androgenic alopecia (AA). Materials & Methods: Four patients with Norwood grade IV and above were selected for the study and consentfor body hair harvesting was taken. Beardhair was harvested using the follicular unit excision (FUE) technique (8) . Post- operative pictureswere taken and patient satisfaction, doctor’s observation & photographic evaluation was done. Results: All the four patients were followed up and evaluated at 4, 8, and 12 months. In these cases use of beard hair combined with scalp hairhighly enhanced the visual density and better coverage in even higher grades of hair loss. Conclusion: Combining scalp as well as beard hair is a good method to treat advanced Norwood grades of hair loss as wellas to enhance the results of hair transplantation. Key words: Norwood grade,Androgenic alopecia, beard hair transplant. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 04-09-2020 Date of Acceptance: 19-09-2020 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Autologous hair transplantation has been the safest and very effective treatment for androgenic alopecia. Routinely the occipital area serves as a safe donor zone, and the average survival rate of transplanted hair follicle units is around 95%. But when the patient is having severe alopecia, the occipital area follicular units alone might compromise the cosmetic results (11, 12) . Follicular unit extraction (FUE technique) has made it possible to extract the individual follicular units from the body and beard donor areas without strip excision and suturing. This method enables us to use body and beard hair as additional donor hair in suitable patients (2) .Beard hair, in particular, has been utilized more than hair from other parts of the body, including armpit hair, limb hair, chest hair, and pubic hair (3) . The beard donor hair differ in characteristics, (length, calibre, colour, growth cycles etc.), from the scalp donor hair. Moreover the techniques of harvesting beardhairs are more time consuming and technically difficult. Beard donor hair extraction requires higher degree of skill than regular scalp FUE. Beard hairtransplantation can be successfully used either alone or in combination with scalp hair particularly in advancedgrades of baldness. It is also useful for improving the cosmetic appearance of hairlines and also in scarring alopecia whenthere is paucity of donor scalp hair. Harvesting of beard hairs opens up a new viable donor source forhair restoration surgeons (1) . It is especially useful in cases of advanced Norwood grades IV and above ofandrogenic alopecia.Since Patients from different ethnic backgrounds have different skin and hair biology characteristics, they can get varied symptoms like irritation reactions and different wound healing pattern. There are few complications observed in different populations following beard hair extraction. Most common complications noted following beard hair extraction is hypo pigmented scars and folliculitis in the donor area below the jawline of those patients with darker skin. The safe donor site for the beard area should be restricted to the submandibular area. (Figure 1)When a large number of beard hairs are extracted, the occurrence of hypopigmentation in the beard site is more visible.