Linear Alopecia Areata in a 4-Year-Old Patient: A Rare Clinical Variant

This article reports a rare case of linear alopecia areata (AA) in a 4-year-old child, marking it as the youngest documented instance of this variant. The child presented with a 12 cm × 4 cm smooth, nonscarring alopecia patch in a linear pattern on the right temporoparietal region. Trichoscopy revealed short upward regrowing hairs and yellow dots, suggesting a good prognosis. The diagnosis was made without a biopsy due to the child's age, relying on clinical and trichoscopic findings to rule out other conditions. This case highlights the importance of trichoscopy in diagnosing rare AA variants in children and suggests a potential association between this linear variant and a favorable prognosis, although more evidence is needed to confirm this.