123 Histopathology of Alopecia Areata and Male Androgenetic Alopecia in Horizontal Sections of Scalp Biopsies

HJ Lee1, JH Lee1, SJ Ha1, JC Kim2, HO Kim1, JW Kim1. Dept. of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul1, and Dept. of Immunology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Taegu2, Korea

The advantages of horizontal, over vertical, sectioning of scalp biopsies allow morphometric analysis of follicular structures. In this study, we performed the morphometric analysis of alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia using the horizontal sectioning method. Paird, 4-mm punch biopises were taken from the margin of alopecic patch from 21 alopecia areata patients or the frontal lesion of 13 androgenetic alopcia patients, and from clinically normal occipital scalp of all subjects. The histopathological features were consistent with the known descriptions, but the data on follicular counts showed striking differences compared to that of Caucasians. In alopecia areata, numbers of vellus hairs and follicular stelae was increased significantly (p<0.05). Terminal telogen hairs were significantly increased (p<0.05) with decrease in terminal anagen hairs. In androgenetic alopecia, numbers of vellus hairs and follicular stelae was increased significantly (p<0.05) in the lesion compared with the normal occipital scalp. Slight increase of terminal telogen hairs was observed without statistical significance. Our results suggest that horizontal sectioning of scalp biopsies is a useful diagnostic method but differences in follicular counts should be considered in interpreting the morphometric data in Koreans.