Relevance of Trichoscopy in the Differential Diagnosis of Alopecia: A Cross-Sectional Study from North India

January 2016 in “ Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology ”

Minu Jose Chiramel, Vinod Sharma, Sujay Khandpur, Vishnubhatla Sreenivas

trichoscopy alopecia alopecia areata androgenetic alopecia yellow dots black dots exclamation mark hair hair shaft diameter diversity thin hair hair loss pattern baldness

TLDR Trichoscopy is useful for diagnosing different types of hair loss.

In 2016, a study at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences involving 120 patients found trichoscopy to be a valuable tool in diagnosing various types of alopecia. The most common trichoscopic findings were yellow dots (63.3% of patients) and thin hair (40.8% of patients). In alopecia areata, the most frequent findings were yellow dots (87.5%), black dots (79%), and exclamation mark hair (70.9%). In androgenetic alopecia, yellow dots, hair shaft diameter diversity, and thin hair were the prominent features. Despite the study's limitations, such as a small number of patients in each group and some patients having received prior treatment elsewhere, trichoscopy helped reach a conclusive diagnosis in 19 out of 21 unclear cases.

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