SALT II: A New Take on the Severity of Alopecia Tool for Determining Percentage Scalp Hair Loss

In the document from December 2016, the authors introduced an updated version of the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT), named SALT II, designed to more precisely determine the percentage of scalp hair loss in patients. The update was motivated by the need for a more detailed assessment tool for conditions like alopecia areata (AA), cicatricial alopecia, male pattern hair loss (MPHL), and frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA). The study involved measuring the scalp surface area (SSA) of 52 subjects (26 female and 26 male) to establish a range of SSA from 607 cm² to 842 cm², with an average of 705 cm². The SALT II tool allows for the assessment of hair loss in smaller increments and specific scalp areas, which can be useful for both clinical practice and clinical trials. The authors believe that SALT II will be particularly beneficial for evaluating treatments for AA in Food and Drug Administration-sponsored studies.