The Morphology of Scalp Whorls and Anterior Hairlines in Koreans

Kim, Chang Sik; Yoo, Jae Hak; Park, Tae Ho; Kim, Kea Jeung

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Although scalp whorls and the anterior hairline are important parts for the morphology of the scalp hair pattern, only a few studies on them have been reported. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to obtain data about the classification and incidence of various scalp whorl patterns, the average heights of the anterior hairlines, and the types of anterior hairlines and their incidence. METHOD: We evaluated the number, direction and location of the parietal scalp whorls, measured the heights of the frontal and temporal hairlines according to the 5 standard lines, and identified the shape of the anterior hairlines in 484 men and 171 women. RESULTS: Of the 655 subjects, 89.6% had single parietal scalp whorls, while 6.9% had double whorls. The single clockwise type was more common than the single counterclockwise types, and the location of single whorls were in the middle, right and left, in decreasing order of frequency. Of the double whorls, cases of the same direction were more common than those of opposite directions. The average height of the anterior hairline was higher in men than women. For the classification of the anterior hairline, the linear type was the most common in men and the round type more common in women. CONCLUSION: We describe the present results as a guideline for the further study of hair-related abnormalities and also for the esthetic design of hair transplantations.