Alopecia areata with features of loose anagen hair.

A child with alopecia areata (AA) presented initially with clinical features of loose anagen hair (LAH) and had features consistent with LAH on microscopic hair analysis. However, a scalp biopsy specimen demonstrated peribulbar inflammatory infiltrates characteristic of AA. We suggest that AA may mimic LAH clinically and a scalp biopsy may help in making the correct diagnosis.