Incidental Syringomas of the Scalp in a Patient with Scarring Alopecia
July 2015
in “Case Reports in Dermatology”
TLDR A woman with unexplained hair loss was found to have harmless skin tumors and a scarring hair loss condition, but the tumors didn't cause the hair loss.
In 2015, a 56-year-old female with unexplained hair loss was diagnosed with lichen planopilaris, a type of scarring alopecia, following multiple scalp biopsies. These biopsies also incidentally discovered syringomas, benign skin tumors that are uncommon on the scalp and usually only a cosmetic concern. Despite their presence, the syringomas were not the cause of the patient's hair loss. This case underscored the necessity of scalp biopsies in patients with unexplained hair loss to rule out rare neoplastic lesions like syringomas and identify associated conditions.
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