Gynecologic and Hormonal Comorbidities of Scarring Alopecia: A Retrospective Review
April 2019
in “
Journal of Investigative Dermatology
”
TLDR Women with scarring alopecia are less likely to have used hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptives compared to those with female pattern hair loss.
The retrospective review compared gynecologic and hormonal comorbidities in 105 female patients with scarring alopecia to 105 age- and sex-matched controls with female pattern hair loss (FPHL), finding no significant difference in gynecologic conditions or reproductive history between the groups. However, it was noted that scarring alopecia patients were less likely to have used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (11% vs 24%, p=0.0185) or oral contraceptives (OCP) (21% vs 35%, p=0.023), suggesting a potential protective effect of these hormonal treatments against scarring alopecia. The study calls for larger studies to further investigate the role of hormones in this condition.