FC-11   HAIR DIAMETER DIVERSITY AND PERIPILAR SIGNS ARE CLINICAL SIGNS ASSOCIATED WITH ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA

O. de Lacharrière, C. Deloche, I. Tardy*, A. Bielicki, P. Bastien, P. Galan§, S. Hercberg§. L’Oréal Recherche, Clichy, *Hertford Hospital, Levallois-Perret, Suvimax, §ISTNA, Paris. France.

Androgenic alopecia is the most common type of hair loss. By using a simple and reproducible method of scalp exploration, we have quantified a set of clinical parameters including hair density, diversity in hair diameter (DHD) and peripilar signs (PPS). Those are characterized by changes in the scalp appearance around the follicular ostium. The incidence of DHD and PPS at the early stages of alopecia increased as the condition progressed. Furthermore, the results obtained from clinical monitoring of a cohort of 735 men (French national SUVIMAX study1) demonstrated that the isolated occurrence of DHD or PPS, or moreover a combination of both, represented a significant risk factor for a decrease in hair density. Additional studies2 conducted with the Bologna team have been performed on the histological pattern of these clinical signs. They have shown that the clinical macroscopic scoring we proposed for hair density was significantly correlated with histological hair density. DHD was the most accurate clinical parameter linked to follicle miniaturization. PPS were mainly related to cellular perifollicular infiltrates as were changes in epidermal thickness. We conclude that these observations represent the histological features of DHD and PPS signs which are more frequently observed during androgenic alopecia.

References:

1. S. Hercberg et al, Control Clin Trials, 1998,19 :336-351,

2. O. de Lacharrière et al, Arch Dermatol, 2001,137 :641-646