Trichoscopy of Alopecia Areata: A Diagnostic Aide

Objective: Alopecia areata (AA) is a common, chronic disorder presents as patchy loss of hair on the scalp, beard area, eyebrows and other parts of body. Trichoscopy, dermoscopy of hair, is a non-invasive diagnostic tool which helps in visualization of subsurface features. Diagnosis of AA is easy, however, diffuse alopecia, alopecia on the eyebrows, patients presenting with total loss of hair can pose problem in identifying this condition. Trichoscopy, showing particular and specific patterns, can be utilized to diagnose this condition. Objective of our study was to identify the specific patterns of trichoscopy AA. Methods: Fifty patients with AA were included in the study. Dermlite 3 dermoscope (10X magnifications) with polarized light was employed in the study. Results: A total of 50 patients were evaluated and trichoscopy showed yellow dots, exclamation mark hairs, broken hairs, black dots, short vellous hairs in 25 (50%), 30 (60%), 15 (30%), 10 (20%), 05 (10%) patients respectively. Conclusion: Trichoscopy demonstrates definitive and specific patterns in AA. It helps not only in diagnosis of AA but also identifies activity and severity of AA. Yellow dots were observed in every stage of AA and black dots, exclamation mark hairs, broken hairs were demonstrated in active disease.