The Okuda Papers: an extraordinary - but unfortunately unrecognized - piece of work that could have changed the history of hair transplantation

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.