Clinical Signs and Laboratory Tests for the Differential Diagnosis of Androgenic and Post-COVID-19 Alopecia in Women

The study identifies objective criteria for differentiating between androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and post-COVID-19 alopecia in women. It found that post-COVID alopecia presents as diffuse telogen effluvium, unlike AGA, which affects hair follicles in specific phases. Both conditions showed elevated dihydrotestosterone levels, but post-COVID patients had significantly lower copper (46.4% lower; p=0.006) and higher selenium levels (24.7% higher; p=0.003) compared to AGA patients. These findings, analyzed using the CART algorithm, provide a basis for effective differentiation and targeted conservative therapy for these types of hair loss.