Pigtail Hair in Acute Telogen Effluvium – Lest We Forget!

In 2020, a study was conducted on a 27-year-old woman who presented with sudden, severe hair shedding, a condition known as acute telogen effluvium (TE). This condition was first described by Kligman in 1961 and is the most common type of nonscarring hair loss. The woman had previously suffered from dengue fever and was shedding 1,000-1,200 hairs per day. Trichoscopy revealed multiple pigtail hair and upright regrowing hair, with hair diameter diversity <10%. A trichogram confirmed that 34% of her hair was in the telogen phase. After a single dose of 40 mg Triamcinolone acetonide and nutritional supplementation, her hair shedding decreased by nearly 30% within a week. The study concluded that pigtail hair, which is short, regularly twisted oval or circular with tapered ends, lightly pigmented and resembles a pig's tail, is a newly grown hair and its occurrence should be included in trichoscopic features in TE.