These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: Epidemiological, Clinical, Trichoscopic, and Histopathological Features of Lupus Erythematous Mimicking Alopecia Areata: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.
    Author: Melo DF, Müller Ramos P, Iorizzo M, Lima CDS, Pinto EB, Cortez de Almeida RF, Machado CJ, Starace M.
    Journal: Skin Appendage Disord; 2022 May; 8(3):236-240. PubMed ID: 35707286.
    Abstract:
    INTRODUCTION: All types of lupus erythematosus (LE) may cause hair loss. Nonscarring alopecia was correlated with systemic LE, based on its high specificity. Discoid LE can also appear as nonscarring patches in early stages. Patchy alopecia LE-specific may also mimic alopecia areata (AA) - which can co-occur with LE. The distinction is fundamental to early diagnosis and effective treatment. This study aims to analyze clinical, epidemiological, trichoscopic, and histopathological features of patients with patchy LE-specific alopecia, nonscarring type, mimicking AA. METHODS: This is a multicentric retrospective study. We reviewed the medical records of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of LE mimicking AA. RESULTS: Ten patients were included (90% female) with a mean age of 45.9 years. Clinically, 60% showed erythema and 70% presented incomplete hair loss. The most common trichoscopic findings were interfollicular arborizing vessels (90%) and scattered brown discoloration (80%). On histopathology, perivascular inflammation (85.7%), peribulbar lymphocytes (85.7%), and dermal pigment incontinence (71.4%) were present in most cases. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Trichoscopy was found as an essential first step for the patchy alopecia diagnosis, enabling to differentiate LE from AA. Putting it mildly, trichoscopy raises the suspicion that leads to a biopsy, increasing the diagnostic accuracy with better outcome for patients.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]