Comparative efficacy of oral dutasteride and low-, medium-, and high-dose oral minoxidil: a six-month prospective trichoscopic and clinical study

This study compared the effects of oral dutasteride and varying doses of oral minoxidil on androgenetic alopecia over six months in 67 men, with 46 completing the study. Oral minoxidil showed improvements in clinical severity scores, while oral dutasteride did not show significant changes. Trichoscopic changes were modest, with some region- and dose-specific structural changes, such as thicker hairs in the fronto-parietal region with dutasteride and increased hair shaft diameter in the occipital region with low-dose minoxidil. However, these findings were limited and did not align with broad trichoscopic improvements. The study suggests that clinical staging may better capture early therapeutic effects than microscopic assessments, but results should be interpreted cautiously due to the study's design and size, highlighting the need for larger, randomized studies with longer follow-up.