Androgenic Alopecia in a Postmenopausal Sicilian Baroness

November 2017 in “ Journal of Endocrinological Investigation ”

G.R. Borzì, Francesco Trimarchi, M. Russo

androgenic alopecia ovarian hyperthecosis insulin resistance androgen-secreting tumor ovarian Leydigoma adrenocortical adenoma polycystic ovary syndrome congenital adrenal hyperplasia PCOS

TLDR The painting of an 18th-century Sicilian baroness shows she had hair loss, possibly due to ovarian issues, insulin resistance, or a specific type of tumor.

The document discusses a portrait of Aurora Monizio di Mandralisca, a postmenopausal Sicilian baroness from the eighteenth century, which is housed in the Mandralisca Museum in Cefalù, Sicily. The portrait shows the baroness with clear signs of androgenic alopecia, a form of hair loss. The authors speculate that this could have been caused by ovarian hyperthecosis or insulin resistance, or possibly by an androgen-secreting tumor such as an ovarian Leydigoma or an adrenocortical adenoma. Other causes like polycystic ovary syndrome or congenital adrenal hyperplasia were considered less likely due to her presumably normal sexual development and known parity.

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