Significance of dermoscopy in acute diffuse and total alopecia of the female scalp: review of twenty cases.

BACKGROUND

Acute diffuse and total alopecia of the female scalp (ADTAFS) is a new subtype of alopecia areata that is characterized by rapid progression of diffuse alopecia of the female scalp, marked female predominance and a favorable prognosis. Differential diagnosis of other types of diffuse alopecia such as female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is necessary in some cases.

OBJECTIVE

To describe dermoscopic findings of ADTAFS and to investigate the possibility of utilizing dermoscopy as a diagnostic tool for ADTAFS.

METHODS

Twenty cases of ADTAFS diagnosed by clinical and/or histological findings were examined by dermoscopy.

RESULTS

Cadaverized hairs (black dots), exclamation mark hairs (tapering hairs), broken hairs or yellow dots were seen in 18, 13, 19 and 17 out of 20 cases, respectively. One of these signs was seen in all cases (20/20). On the other hand, none of 12 cases with exclusively FPHL showed the dermoscopic features such as cadaverized hairs, exclamation mark hairs or broken hairs. Only 1 FPHL patient showed a yellow dot in the hair loss area.

CONCLUSION

Dermoscopy is a helpful diagnostic tool for ADTAFS, especially to distinguish it from FPHL.