The Medical Treatment of Cicatricial Alopecia
March 2006
in “
Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery
”
TLDR Current treatments for cicatricial alopecia can manage symptoms but don't stop hair loss or the disease.
The document discussed the treatment of cicatricial alopecia, highlighting that while current treatments could induce clinical remission and arrest symptoms, they did not stop the underlying disease process, and hair loss might continue. Management began with a scalp biopsy, and treatment was guided by histopathologic findings. Immunomodulating agents were used for lymphocytic infiltrates, and antimicrobial agents for neutrophilic infiltrates. Treatment selection was complex due to overlapping and changing histopathologic features. Future research in cellular and molecular biology was expected to identify unique markers for cicatricial alopecias, potentially leading to better treatments and a cure.