A Simple Technique to Distinguish Fibrosing Alopecia in a Pattern Distribution from Androgenetic Alopecia and Concomitant Seborrheic Dermatitis

January 2021 in “ Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology ”

Bevin Bhoyrul

fibrosing alopecia pattern distribution androgenetic alopecia seborrheic dermatitis scalp scraping technique diffuse alopecia perifollicular scaling scalp biopsies FAPD AGA SD

TLDR A simple scalp scraping can effectively distinguish fibrosing alopecia from androgenetic alopecia with seborrheic dermatitis.

The study aimed to differentiate fibrosing alopecia in a pattern distribution (FAPD) from androgenetic alopecia (AGA) with concomitant seborrheic dermatitis (SD) using a simple scalp scraping technique. Twenty patients with diffuse alopecia and perifollicular scaling were examined, including 10 with FAPD and 10 with AGA and SD. After scraping, changes in scale were observed in all AGA and SD cases but only in 2 FAPD cases, showing high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (80%) for distinguishing FAPD. This method could reduce unnecessary scalp biopsies by effectively identifying SD in AGA cases. The study was limited by its small sample size.

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