Androgenic Alopecia and Subclinical Atherosclerosis: Is Any Relationship?

Background and Purpose: Androgenic alopecia (AGA) is one of the common presenting problems in dermatology. Relationship between AGA and atherosclerosis/cardiovascular disorders has been surveyed in many studies with different results: some approved it and the others did not. The aim of this study was comparative survey of carotid intima – media thickness between cases with AGA and controls. Subjects and methods: This case control study was conducted from August 2016 to March 2017 at ambulatory dermatology clinics of 2 university hospital, Tehran. The case group consisted of patients with androgenetic alopecia in the range of 1860 years. The controls were age and “bone mass index” matched friends and families. Individuals with cardiovascular risk factors/diseases were excluded. Carotid intimamedia thickness (IMT) was measured at right common Carotid before bifurcation by a faculty radiologist. Data were analyzed in SPSS 22 software. Results: Totally 94 individuals (47 cases, 47 controls) were studied. The case and control groups were matched regarding age and BMI.IMT in the case and control groups were 0.56 ± 0.15 and 0.55 ± 0.14 mm respectively (p=0.674).IMT in the cases with vertex alopecia was significantly higher than frontal alopecia: 0.61 ± 0.14 vs 0.5 ± 0.14 (p=0.018). Comparison of IMT between cases with vertex alopecia and the controls revealed are not significant difference. Conclusion: This study showed no significant increase of IMT in androgenetic alopecia (especially vertex type) in comparison with the controls. Further studies are recommended.