A Top Doctor in Hair Transplant Innovation: An Interview with Dr. Arthur Katona

The TopDoc Clinics Miami location is fortunate to include Dr. Arthur Katona, MD, as an in-house physician. Dr. Katona, a hair restoration surgeon with 25 years of experience, is a leader in the industry. He has performed more than 22,000 hair transplant procedures in the United States and the United Kingdom. He is well respected for his talent and innovations, and his patients include several professional athletes. 

“We built the largest clinic in the United States, and now we’re in the best city in the best building, in the best location and in the best clinic,” Dr. Katona said.

 

Becoming a Hair Transplant Surgeon

 

Getting Started

After medical school,  Dr. Katona completed Fellowships in Dermatology with Dr. Bernard Ackerman, Dr. F. Brandt, and Dr. Leavitt.

Later, he completed a lengthy Fellowship in hair transplant surgery with Dr. Leavitt learning techniques that were decades ahead of the general hair transplant community. Dr. Katona has taught some of these techniques at the major hair transplant meetings for the leading doctors in the world.

 

A Singular Focus

Dr. Katona and his team have a singular focus on what they do and how they do it. 

“My team is dedicated exclusively to hair transplant surgery. They don’t engage in any other areas of medicine. A singular focus is critical,” Dr. Katona said.

 

About Hair Transplant Surgery

 

Two Standard Techniques

Two methods are commonly used for hair transplant are Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). Both involve removing hair follicles from the back of the head and transplanting them in the thinning areas. 

With FUT, a strip of skin is removed and divided into thousands of grafts with one or more individual hairs each. With FUE, the back of the scalp is shaved, and individual hair follicles are removed. 

“I come out of the FUT strip surgery legacy, but FUE surgery is making a move to be the foremost technique. Both are good as long as you execute at the highest level,” Dr. Katona explained. 

 

Other Treatments

Dr. Katona mentions other methods available, such as cryotherapy, IV therapy, hyperbaric, platelet-rich plasma and oral medications.

“There are also medications such as Finasteride and Minoxidil. I think oral minoxidil and spironolactone are going to step forward,” he said.

Dr. Katona considers laser light therapy and stem cells and exosomes as exciting possibilities in hair restoration. and peptides to be exciting entries into the field. Also, his practice will be conducting randomized prospective peptides studies.

“We’re going to have cloning within the next five to 10 years. The technology and science are there. I think all of these procedures are going to get bigger and better,” Dr. Katona explained.

 

Hair Transplantation for Women

Dr. Katona and his team receive many inquiries from women seeking hair loss solutions. The team carefully evaluates each case.

“It is critical to perform an extensive medical history, which may involve laboratory tests, a skin biopsy and other modalities to determine the cause of hair loss. Once the cause has been determined or certain underlying health conditions have been ruled out, we may proceed to treatment,” Dr. Katona said.

 

Inventions and Advancements

Challenges do not daunt Dr. Katona and his team. Instead, they invent solutions.

 

Overcoming Challenges for African American Patients

For many African American patients, the current machinery does not work as well because of the tight curl of the hair follicle. 

“The curl exists not only at the surface but also beneath the skin, making follicles trickier to harvest. The curvature of the hair shaft makes it particularly challenging to locate the root of the follicle, which is critical for a transplanted follicle’s growth,” Dr. Katona explained.

The solution? They invented a new machine!

“Our FUE device considers the curvature, so we can more easily work on wavy and curly hair. It even makes it easier to harvest straight hair, too, so everyone benefits,” Dr. Katona said.

The team also pretreats the skin before actual harvest to make the root location more easily identifiable. In sum, patients receive better, more satisfying outcomes. 

 

Using Less Anesthesia 

The FUE procedure requires a lot of anesthesia, which is not salutary for the patient. The solution? Another invention.  

“We have invented our anesthesia mechanism where we use less medication. As a result, we’re getting better anesthesia and more comfort for the patient, which allows us to do bigger hair transplant procedures,” Dr. Katona said.

 

TopDoc Clinics

 

A Partnership

TopDoc Clinics is delighted to have Dr. Katona join their ranks. 

“We decided to network with TopDoc Clinics because they scour the country for the best doctors in all areas of medicine. We want to network with them and also refer our patients to them when needed,” he explained. 

 

Ideal Facilities

Dr. Katona’s TopDoc Clinic is located in downtown Miami’s prestigious Four Seasons Hotel. 

“We’re using the largest operating room in the country, about 600 square feet. Its double lamps give us illumination that we’ve never had before,” Dr. Katona said.

The location also allows for advanced postoperative care.

“We have hair wash facilities, so a patient can come back later, and we can wash the donor and grafted areas. This speeds wound healing and growth,” Dr. Katona added. 

 

Privacy

Privacy is paramount, as many of Dr. Katona’s patients are among the most accomplished professional athletes from major league sports. The hotel accommodates these concerns. 

“There are two secret entrances where they can park and enter the facility. There’s also a private elevator, and they can make their way to a very private Four Seasons Hotel room for recovery,” Dr. Katona explained.

 

Expanding the Top Doctor Connection

“I want to take this to a national scale. Across the country, using our machinery, we can train staff, nurses, medical technicians, medical assistants and doctors,” Dr. Katona said.

 

A Parting Reminder

TopDoc Clinics is a healthcare industry leader with a broad, diverse set of medical specialties, including urgent care, family practice, restorative and revitalizing services and cosmetic procedures. Their overall goal is to detoxify the body and improve the speed and quality of recovery for every patient. To that end, we bring on board and support team members like Dr. Katona — the most forward-thinking, innovative providers.

Dr. Katona is at the forefront of advancing the hair transplant surgery practice. With the help of his dedicated team of experts, he has created solutions when faced with challenges, providing the best chance for patients’ successful outcomes. Top Doc Clinics is proud to have Dr. Katona on its team of house physicians.