XXIV annual congress of International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) was held in Las Vegas (Nevada, USA) from 28th of September to 1st of October, 2016. Compared to the previous years, record number of delegates was registered to this congress.
The 24th Congress was distinguished with its content and the points which were emphasized regarding hair transplantation. Although, in the past certain groups of doctors, transplantologists used to be proud of the massive hair transplantations (5000, 6000, etc. grafts within a surgery), and others used to prefer only FUE method, during the congress a common idea was highlighted, that we must be result oriented and not competing each other with the number of transplanted hair. Only well-planned surgery can give the best result. In each individual case optimal number of grafts should be identified and the least harmful transplantation method should be chosen, which will result in maximum hair growth. And in case of high stage alopecia (V-VI-VII), hair restoration is recommended through several surgeries (at least 2 and nor one).
Professor Aleksiy Makharashvili and plastic surgeon, Doctor of Medicine Dea Papaskiri were actively involved in congress activities.
One more interesting point was Aleksiy Makharashvili’s Round Table Discussion with experts Christian N. Bisanga and Patrick Mwamba. Aleksiy Makharashvili expressed his opinion, how it is possible to decrease (hair follicles) grafts damage using FUE method. Patrick Mwamba shared his experience in extracting curly hair using FUE method.
Las Vegas Congress was especially remembering for us, because the first presentation about long hair transplantation was presented here. The author was an Australian doctor Otavio Boaventura Lima. Sadly, he is named as the innovator of this method, as Professor Aleksiy Makharashvili worked out the long hair transplantation technology with FUE method in 2014-2015. However, while the engineers were working on creating the corresponding equipment and tools, the Brazilian doctor was the first to present exactly about the same method on the 24th International Congress in Las Vegas. It turned out that he and Aleksiy Makharashvili were thinking about the same method. That’s why we can confidently call long hair transplantation with FUE method Boaventura-Makharashvili method.
