Severe Alopecia Areata Treated With Systemic Corticosteroids
August 1998
in “
International Journal of Dermatology
”
TLDR Systemic corticosteroids don't prevent severe alopecia areata from spreading or relapsing.
The study treated 18 patients with severe alopecia areata using systemic corticosteroids. Satisfactory hair regrowth was achieved in 7 patients (38.9%). However, hair fall occurred in all patients upon discontinuation or tapering of the therapy. The study concluded that systemic corticosteroid therapy did not prevent the spread or relapse of severe alopecia areata, and complete regrowth was rarely maintained off therapy.
