A clicical study for alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis

Choi, Heung Ryeol; Kim, Myung Nam; Hong, Chang Kwun; Ro, Byung in

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis are uncomman and developed from 5-10% of the patients with alopecia areata.
OBJECTIVE
The authors perfcirmed a study for clinical obervations and the effects of treatments of alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis in order that this study may cointribute to further studies and treatments of them. MEHTODS: The author performed a clinical study of 42 patients with alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis retrospectively in order to evaluate the clinical manifestation. and the effects of treatments from January 1984 to March 1992 at the department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Chung Ang University.
RESULTS
1. The incidence of alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis was 6.7% (42/623) among the alopecia patients who were occtipied 1.4% (623/44,839) among the all new dermatologic out patients. 2. The age distributions at the onset of disease showed a peak incidenced an age of less than 15 years (52.4%, 22/42) and the average age was 19.7 years. 3. The laboratory fi ndings showed decreased total T cell count in 1 case(1/10), inversed T/T ratio in 6 cases(6/10), poisitive anti-thyroglobulin anti-body in 3 cases(3/11), and abnormal serum levels of testosterone, esradiol and progesterone in 5 cases(5/22), 2 cases(2/14) and 8 cases(8/13), respectively. 4. The effects in the group treated with topical immunotherapy with DPCP(2,3-diphenylcyclopropenone) or DI CB(2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene) revealed no significant difference from those in the group treated with an intralesional injection of triamcinolone acetonide. 5. The response rates to treatment were make ily higher in the patients with alopecia totalis than alopecia uriiversalis, in cases where the duration of disease was less than 5 years, and in the patients associated with psychologic stress.
CONCLUSION
These results suggested that alopecia totalis and alopepia aniversalis frequently occur in children, and some of them we eassociated with cell mediated immunity defects, autoantibody and endocrine factors. The patients with alopecia totalis, with short duration if disease and associated with emotional stress showed better therapeutic responses.