Analysis of 65 Cases of Primary Cicatricial Alopecia

Abstract

Patients diagnosed with primary cicatricial alopecias (PCAs) at the dermatology outpatient clinic at Tokyo Medical University between April of 2002 and March of 2010 were collected and clinically analyzed. Sixty-five patients were diagnosed with PCA during this 8-year period. This number represented 0.1% of the total number of dermatological consultations (n=54,371) and 1.9% of the total number of trichogenic consultations (n=3,421) at our hospital. The study population included 41 female and 24 male Japanese subjects with a female/male ratio of 1.7:1. The age of onset ranged from 0 to 84 years (mean age: 41.1±19.9 years). The mean duration of the condition was 5.4±5.1 years. Thirty-seven patients (56.9%) had subjective symptoms such as pruritus and pain. The patients were subdivided as follows: chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus, 14 cases (21.5%); lichen planopilaris, 17 patients (26.2%; frontal fibrosing alopecia, 7 patients (10.8%; classic pseudopelade of Brocq, 5 patients (7.7%); folliculitis decalvans, 10 patients (15.4%); dissecting cellulitis, 1 patient (1.5%); folliculitis keloidalis, 9 patients (13.8%); not categorized, 2 patients (3.1%). The patients classified in the lymphocyte infiltration group were treated mainly with corticosteroids, and those classified in the neutrophil infiltration group were treated with both corticosteroids and antibiotics. More than half of all the patients showed improvement of inflammation and suppression of further expansion of alopecia lesions.