The Okuda Papers: An Extraordinary But Unfortunately Unrecognized Piece of Work That Could Have Changed the History of Hair Transplantation
January 2015
in “
Experimental Dermatology
”
hair transplantation hair punch graft technique autologous hair transplantation histological changes heterotransplantation donor dominance hair follicle innervation hair transplant hair grafting self-hair transplant tissue changes cross-species transplant donor hair priority nerve regeneration in hair follicles
TLDR Dr. Shoji Okuda's pioneering work on hair transplantation was overlooked and could have significantly advanced the field if recognized sooner.
The document discusses the Okuda papers, a significant but largely unrecognized body of work on hair transplantation by Dr. Shoji Okuda, published in 1939. Okuda's work detailed the hair punch graft technique and reported a 100% growth success rate in over 200 cases of autologous hair transplantation. He meticulously documented the clinical evolution of 30 cases and the histological changes post-transplantation. Okuda also experimented with heterotransplantation, which was unsuccessful, and noted the importance of donor dominance and the regeneration of hair follicle innervation after autotransplantation. His findings were corroborated by later research. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of World War II, Okuda's work remained unknown outside Japan and was only rediscovered and translated into English in 2004. The authors argue that Okuda's research could have altered the history of hair transplantation had it been recognized earlier, and they hope to honor his contributions through this article.
