Clinical Signs and Laboratory Tests for the Differential Diagnosis of Androgenic and Post-COVID-19 Alopecia in Women
July 2024
in “
Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii
”
TLDR Post-COVID-19 hair loss is different from androgenetic alopecia and can be identified by lower copper and higher selenium levels.
The study aimed to differentiate between androgenic alopecia (AGA) and post-COVID-19 alopecia (PCA) in women using clinical signs and laboratory tests. It involved 67 women, with 33 in the AGA group and 34 in the PCA group. Key findings showed that PCA is characterized by a more significant reduction in hair density and a higher percentage of hair in the telogen phase compared to AGA. Both groups had elevated dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels, but PCA patients had lower copper and higher selenium levels. The study concluded that no single clinical or laboratory marker could definitively differentiate AGA from PCA, but a combination of telogen hair percentage and selenium levels could classify PCA with 96% accuracy.
