Value of hormonal levels in patients with male androgenetic alopecia treated with finasteride: better response in patients under 26 years old.

BACKGROUND: Finasteride is a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor that has proved to be an effective treatment for men with androgenetic alopecia. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the hormonal influence of finasteride 1 mg daily on hormonal levels and hair growth in men of different ages and with different degrees of alopecia according to the Hamilton-Norwood scale. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy men aged 14-58 years with male androgenetic alopecia III-VI Hamilton-Norwood score (II-III Ebling score) were treated with finasteride 1 mg daily. Steroid hormone (free testosterone, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate, delta4-androstenedione, 17-hydroxyprogesterone), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and sebum levels, and trichogram changes were determined at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months of treatment. RESULTS: According to significant hormonal statistical analysis, the patients were divided by age (up to or over 26 years). In the group of patients26 years. No variations in sebum levels were observed. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone in patients

Ofuji papuloerythroderma evolving to cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Ofuji papuloerythroderma is an uncommon entity of unknown aetiology, characterized by a pruritic eruption of widespread, red-brown, flat papules that leads to spare skin folds. A number of cases have been described associated with tumour pathology, mainly cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. We report a new case of Ofuji papuloerythroderma evolving to cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in an 85-year-old woman who had been previously diagnosed with papuloerythroderma 7 years previously.