Treatment of Postmenopausal Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia with Oral Dutasteride

    June 2009 in “ Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology ”
    Sofia Georgala, Alexander C. Katoulis, Angeliki Befon, Ifigenia Danopoulou, Catherine Georgala
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    TLDR Oral dutasteride can potentially treat frontal fibrosing alopecia in postmenopausal women, with some patients showing disease arrest and hair regrowth.
    In a study conducted over a 4-year period, 13 postmenopausal women aged 55 to 72 years with frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) were treated with oral dutasteride 0.5 mg daily for 12 months. FFA is a subtype of primary cicatricial alopecia characterized by a symmetric recession of the frontal hairline, often seen in postmenopausal women. Previous treatments, mostly with potent topical corticosteroids, had been unsuccessful for these patients. After 12 months of treatment with dutasteride, six patients (46.1%) showed a complete arrest of the disease and two (15.3%) had clinical improvement with some hair regrowth. Five patients (71.4%) showed significant eyebrow hair regrowth. No significant topical or systemic side effects were reported. At 18 months, no recurrence was noted in all eight responders. The study concluded that dutasteride could be a potential treatment for FFA, but further evaluation with randomized controlled trials is necessary.
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