Topical Therapy of Alopecia with Squaric Acid Dibutylester

Abstract

The efficacy of the topical application of squaric acid dibutylester (SADBE) was evaluated in nineteen patients with alopecia areata and alopecia totalis. After sensitization with 2% SADBE in acetone, 0.001 to 1.0% of SADBE in acetone was applied to the lesions. Thirteen patients showed excellent responses consisting of a complete regrowth in 11. Among these 11 patients, however, five had a relapse. The treatment time for hair regrowth was 4 to 24 weeks. Six patients had no clinical response after 24 to 56 weeks of therapy. The topical application of SADBE is thus considered to be an effective remedy for alopecia areata and alopecia totalis.