Can Patients with Hepatitis Have Hair Transplant Done?
Hair transplant is a procedure that is performed by dermatologist or plastic surgeon under local anesthesia. It is performed in surgical theaters or completely sterilized surgical ambient prepared especially for hair transplant. Hair transplant is a tissue transplant procedure and basically hair roots that are called grafts are taken one by one and implanted in the areas that need hair. Even though hair transplant is not a fully surgical procedure, as scalp has so many capillaries, it involves bleeding.
Hepatitis is a viral infection. There are 5 different types of hepatitis that can be caused by different factors. They are called as Hepatitis A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis A and Hair Transplant
Hepatitis A can be transmitted via excrement, sexual relationship or orally. 99% of the time, hepatitis A does not evolve into a chronical disease and it heals by itself naturally. It is a very common type of hepatitis and hair transplant procedure can be easily performed to the patients that have hepatitis A.
Hepatitis B and Hair Transplant
Hepatitis B can be transmitted sexually, by blood or whilst giving birth. It can not be transmitted by shaking hands or swimming in the pool. In the tests made, if the person results HbsAg positive, he or she is considered as infectious. 1-2% of the hepatitis B patients experience problems of liver. It is possible for them to have a hair transplant done, but it is recommended that hair transplant team should be informed beforehand.
Hepatitis C and Hair Transplant
Hepatitis C is a virus that approximately 80 millions of people are fighting against worldwide. Hepatitis C is a virus that can cause liver failure. It mainly is transmitted by blood, and less chance of transmitting it sexually. It cannot be transmitted by hugging, kissing, eating from the same plate, toilets or swimming in the pool. With recent developments in medicines, different variations of treatments have been really successful fighting against hepatitis C. Although it can be transmitted by blood, a person that went through a hepatitis C treatment can actually have hair transplant done. However, prior to the procedure, there should be some tests made in order to be sure. With HCV RNA test, it can be seen if the patient has current virus in his/her body, and accordingly we can decide if it is possible to do hair transplant or not. If the patient has a RNA test made in the last 3 months prior to the procedure date and resulted negative, there will not be any problem with hair transplant at all. But in any case, doctor and medical team must be informed about the situation.
Hepatitis D and Hair Transplant
Hepatitis D is the rarest type of hepatitis worldwide. It can be transmitted just like hepatitis B. In order for hepatitis D virus to become an illness, the patient should also be a hepatitis B positive or an inactive carrier. In case that the patient does not have hepatitis B in his/her body, hepatitis D virus disappears in 1 week. It is possible for a hepatitis D positive patient to have hair transplant done.
Hepatitis E and Hair Transplant
Hepatitis E has the same characteristics of infection as hepatitis A. People that have gone through hepatitis E usually don’t experience it again. Usually the body heals itself naturally and the patient can have hair transplant done.
Consequently, it is possible for hepatitis patients to undergo a hair transplant procedure. The most risky group of hepatitis in terms of hair transplant is hepatitis C. Provided that the patient has a negative RNA test result, it is possible to perform hair transplant without any problem. If you have any medical history of hepatitis virus, please inform your medical team beforehand.