Background: Preservation of hair grafts for the purpose of delayed transplantation would allow use of thousands of hair grafts at one time.
Objective: To evaluate the viabilities of hair follicle units preserved in DMEM and Ringer's solution at 0 degrees C for various periods.
Methods: Cell cultures and transplantation of hair follicle units into athymic mice were used.
Results: Outer root sheath cells could be cultivated in 95.8% of those follicles preserved in Ringer's solution, and in 86.7% of those preserved in DMEM culture medium (p < 0.01). In 84.5% of those preserved in Ringer's and 72.5% of those preserved in DMEM for 24 h, hair follicles grew well after implantation into an athymic mouse model (p < 0.05).