Treatments for Alopecia Areata: A Network Meta-Analysis

This network meta-analysis reviewed 63 studies involving 4817 participants to evaluate various treatments for alopecia areata. The most significant finding was that the oral immunosuppressant baricitinib significantly increased short- and long-term hair regrowth compared to a placebo, backed by high-certainty evidence from two trials involving 1200 participants. However, the risk of serious side effects with baricitinib was inconclusive. The evidence for other treatments was generally of very low to low certainty, often due to a small number of studies with few participants. The review concluded that more high-quality studies are needed to evaluate the potentially useful therapies.