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I read an interesting paper from the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology showing a nice case of the hair shaft color changes and calibre changes that can take place in alopecia areata. <\/p>\n
Two key points of this report were:<\/p>\n
1. Segmental heterochromia with calibre change can be a subtle sign of active alopecia areata\u2014even when there are no obvious patches of hair loss.<\/strong><\/p>\n 2. Alternating lighter and thinner segments within individual hair shafts likely reflect intermittent inflammatory activity in the hair follicle and should alert clinicians to ongoing disease activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n This interesting case report describes a 37-year-old woman with a three-year history of intermittent alopecia areata who presented with persistent diffuse hair shedding but no visible patches of hair loss. She also noticed scattered lighter-colored hairs throughout her otherwise black scalp hair. Careful trichoscopy and light microscopy demonstrated alternating segments of depigmented hair that were simultaneously thinner than adjacent normal hair. Remarkably, the hair shaft returned to its normal diameter exactly where normal pigmentation resumed. <\/p>\n The authors propose that these findings represent intermittent inflammatory activity affecting both the pigment-producing melanocytes and the hair matrix in diffuse alopecia areata. Treatment with topical clobetasol applied to the entire scalp together with low-dose oral minoxidil reduced shedding, improved hair density, and prevented further patch formation. <\/p>\n Here is the nice figure 1 from their paper<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOVERVIEW OF CASE<\/strong><\/h3>\n