The Diagnostic Value of Serum Ferritin for Telogen Effluvium: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study
February 2021
in “
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology
”
TLDR Low iron levels in the blood could be a sign of Telogen Effluvium, a type of hair loss, but it's not always accurate in distinguishing it from other hair loss types.
A cross-sectional comparative study involving 193 patients with telogen effluvium (TE), 104 patients with female androgenetic alopecia (FAGA), and 183 healthy subjects found a significant correlation between low serum ferritin levels and TE. The serum ferritin levels in TE patients were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group or FAGA patients. The study suggests that serum ferritin could be a potential biomarker for the clinical diagnosis of TE, with a sensitivity and specificity of 64.2% and 73.8%, respectively. However, when differentiating TE and FAGA, the sensitivity and specificity were 64.2% and 59.6%, indicating the need for other biomarkers to improve its diagnostic value.
