Diffuse symptomatic alopecia

Last Updated: 2023-10-12

Author(s): Anzengruber F., Navarini A.

ICD11: -

Entity described by

Alopecia symptomatica diffusa

Entity described by

Diffuse hair loss evenly distributed over the head, usually symptomatic in character, which cannot be assigned to either androgenetic alopecia or alopecia areata and is characterised by increased telogen effluvium.

Entity described by

Exogenous as well as endogenous damage to the anagen hair follicles causes them to enter the telogen stage earlier. This leads to an increased telogen effluvium. This process is often an expression of a systemic disorder.

Depending on the underlying disease, hair loss manifests itself in different patterns, e.g:

Iron deficiency or chemotherapy → uniform diffuse alopecia
Syphilis → patchy alopecia

Clinic
Laboratory examination → serum iron and ferritin, thyroid parameters (TSH, fT4, T4) and Luessuch reaction (e.g. TPHA test)
Biopsy

Possible over the whole skull

Entity described by

Clinic?
Chemotherapy?
Heparin?
Contraceptives?
Other medicines?

Entity described by

Alopecia is usually reversible when the trigger is removed.

Entity described by

Eliminating the triggering cause