ABSTRACT
Background Non-scarring alopecia is a common hair disorder with paucity of clinical reviews. Objectives We aim to study the spectrum of non-scarring alopecia, its’ demographic, clinical and treatment pattern among patients at University Malaya Medical Centre. Methodology We have retrospectively reviewed the demography, clinical characteristics and treatment of non-scarring alopecia at University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). A total of 154 records were reviewed. Results A majority of patients had alopecia areata (28.6%), followed by androgenetic alopecia (12.3%), telogen effluvium (3.2%), tineacapitis (2.6%) and unspecified hair loss (53.2). Treatment for alopecia areata included topical steroids (53.3%), intralesional steroids (26.7%), topical minoxidil (17.8%), oral steroids (11.1%), oral finasteride (2.2%) and oral azathiopine (2.2%). Prescribed treatment for androgenetic alopecia comprised of topical minoxidil (68.1%) or oral finasteride (10.5%). Conclusion We concluded that alopecia areata was the most common cause of nonscarring alopecia diagnosed at UMMC and deduced that the high number of patients diagnosed with unspecified hair loss was attributed to the lack of confidence amongst out-patient physicians in diagnosing the cause of alopecia.
ABSTRACT
We report a case of alopecia mucinosa in a 9-year-old girl. She presented with several papules on an erythematous patch on the right side of the ala nasi, a hairless nodular lesion on the same side of the nasal canal. Histopathologic findings obtained from the nasal canal revealed typical features of alopecia mucinosa, such as reticular degeneration, cystic space formation and mucin deposition in the pilosebaceous follicle. The case displayed no evidence or clinical features of any malignant changes, and we suspect the case to be an acute form of alopecia mucinosa.