Jet cryotherapy vs clobetasol proprionate lotion in alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a common disease of hair follicles. Cryotherapy has been employed to stimulate hair regrowth. The current investigation evaluated the efficacy of this method in patchyAA. Forty patients older than 5 years and with 120 recalcitrant patches were enrolled in the study. AA covered less than 50% of the patients' scalps. In each individual, one lesion was treated with N2 jet cryotherapy once a week for a period of 12 weeks, while another lesion was treated with topical 0.05% clobetasol proprionate lotion. All patients were followed from weeks 2 to 16. Thirty-eight of 40 patients completed therapy. The overall response rate of patches was 80% in the cryotherapy group and 91.5% in the clobetasol group. Complete recovery (>95% terminal hair growth) was not obtained in any patient. Results from chi-square test showed no significant difference between improvements in AA in the two groups (reliability 95%). Pearson measurement showed a significant reverse relationship between diameter and duration of patches and the improvement rate in both groups. Liquid nitrogen jet cryotherapy can be a helpful modality in the treatment of AA.