Significance of Dermoscopy in Acute Diffuse and Total Alopecia of the Female Scalp: Review of Twenty Cases

January 2008 in “ Dermatology ”

Shigeki Inui, Takeshi Nakajima, Satoshi Itami

dermoscopy Acute Diffuse and Total Alopecia of the Female Scalp ADTAFS Female Pattern Hair Loss FPHL black dots tapering hairs broken hairs yellow dots telogen effluvium

TLDR Dermoscopy effectively distinguishes between acute total hair loss and other types of female hair loss.

In a 2008 study involving 20 female patients with Acute Diffuse and Total Alopecia of the Female Scalp (ADTAFS), dermoscopy was found to be a useful diagnostic tool. The study compared dermoscopic findings of ADTAFS patients with those of 12 patients with Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL). Dermoscopic signs such as black dots, tapering hairs, broken hairs, and yellow dots were present in the majority of ADTAFS cases (18, 13, 19, and 17 out of 20, respectively), and all ADTAFS cases had at least one of these signs. In contrast, these signs were absent in FPHL cases, except for one patient with a yellow dot. The study concluded that dermoscopy can effectively differentiate ADTAFS from FPHL and telogen effluvium.

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