Hair Changes in Acrodermatitis Enteropathica

A study examined the hair of a 70-year-old man with iatrogenic acrodermatitis enteropathica due to zinc deficiency from parenteral alimentation. Despite a low serum zinc level of 6.0 μg/dL, the patient's scalp hair appeared normal under light and polarized microscopy, showing none of the structural abnormalities previously reported in acrodermatitis enteropathica, such as spindly ends and striae. The authors suggested that the duration of zinc deficiency might have been insufficient for these changes to develop.