153 Phototrichogram Analysis of Japanese Female Subjects Complaining of Chronic Diffuse Hair Loss

R Ueki, R Tsuboi, Y Inaba1, H Ogawa Dept. of Dermatology, and Epidemiology and Environmental Health1, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Idiopathic chronic diffuse alopecia in middle-aged women is roughly divided into female androgenetic alopecia and chronic telogen effluvium. But the appropriate classification has not been clearly established, and the characteristics of each alopecia sub-group, especially of the mild form, are not fully understood. The hair growth pattern in chronic diffuse alopecia was divided into sub-groups by using non-invasive quantitative methods after determining the key parameters of hair growth. One hundred one Japanese female subjects complaining of diffuse hair loss over several years and fifty-eight healthy Japanese female volunteers were studied. Phototrichogram was performed at 0 and 48 h after the clipping of the hairs of the parietal region. The diameter of the excised hairs was measured separately. Multiple regression analysis indicated that hair density, hair diameter, short hair ratio and hair growth rate, but not anagen hair ratio, were important, in the order given, for grading the severity of female diffuse alopecia. From the result of cluster analysis, hair growth patterns of the subjects complaining of diffuse hair loss were divided into six abnormal groups (N=60), two borderline groups (N=21) and one normal group (N=20). The normal control subjects, as judged by macroscopic observation, included two borderline and one abnormal subject, with respect to hair growth patterns. The phototrichogram, combined with measurement of hair diameter, is an accurate tool for assessing hair growth patterns in chronic diffuse alopecia, especially for detecting the slight changes in the early phase. Among the various parameters mentioned, hair density is the most important parameter for assessing clinical hair loss in female subjects.