Monitoring Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia With Trichoscopy

The study investigated the trichoscopic patterns of chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) in 12 women with breast cancer undergoing the FEC chemotherapy protocol. It found that after the first 3 weeks of chemotherapy, patients displayed specific trichoscopic features such as black dots, broken hairs, flame hairs, and pohl pinkus. At the end of chemotherapy, there was evidence of hair regrowth, but also signs of persistent alopecia with rare terminal hair and scattered black dots. Three months post-chemotherapy, there was an increase in follicular units and hair length. Before chemotherapy, 70% of patients had a normal trichoscopic appearance, but during treatment, various alopecia-related features were observed. After treatment, 80% of patients had complete hair regrowth, while 20% showed signs of persistent alopecia, possibly due to underlying female pattern hair loss or damage to hair follicle stem cells. The study highlighted the importance of continuous monitoring of CIA and suggested that further research is needed to understand the impact of chemotherapy on hair loss and regrowth.