Alopecia areata: a clinical analysis of 118 cases / 中华医学美学美容杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate clinical features of alopecia areata such as sex, age, and subjective symptoms, and relationships between these factors and disease severity. Methods Clinical materials of patients who were diagnosed as alopecia areata were collected. The role of sex was analyzed in the disease and the correlation between disease severity and sex, age or psychological factors was analyzed. Results 118 patients including 101 cases of localized alopecia areata (AA), 5 alpecia totalis (AT) and 12 alopecia universalis (AU) were collected. The ratio of male to female was 1.21 and there was no correlation between sex and disease severity. The patients were from 1 to 76 years old while average age was 31.3?1.3 years, and that of the female patients was 28.9?1.9 and the male was 33.2?1.8; The median course was 2.5 months, while AA was 2 months, and AT/AU was 18 months; 14.4% patients (17/118), including 11 cases of AA and 6 AT/AU had subjective symptoms; 20.3% patients (24/118) had psychological factors before onset, 60.2% patients (71/118) had difficulties in sleeping, nail changes were found in 15.2% patients (18/118), and ocular symptoms were found in 5.9% patients (7/118), 5.9% patients (7/118) had family history, 3.4% patients (4/118) were accompanied by disease of thyroid gland, 1.7% patients (2/118) were accompanied by vitiligo, TGA and TMA levels elevated abnormally in 4.8% patients (3/62). Conclusion Alopecia areata often affects young to middle-aged people, and there is no correlation between sex and disease severity; Female patients are younger than male; A few patients are induced by psychological factors, and some accompanied by other autoimmune diseases. AT/AU is easier to have subjective symptoms than AA.