Clinical Features:

• Autoimmune disease causing nonscarring alopecia
• Most common in children and young adults
• It most often affects the head or beard, resulting in well-circumscribed patches of hair loss.
• Severe cases may progress to alopecia totalis (loss of all hair on the head) or alopecia universalis (loss of all body hair).

Histologic Features:

• Peribulbar and intrabulbar lymphocytic infiltrate ("swarm of bees")
• Decreased anagen hairs and increased catagen and telogen hairs
• Increase in follicular stelae with lymphocytic infiltration
• Increase in miniaturized vellous hairs
• Pigment incontinence of hair bulbs

Cases associated with this book:

Alopecia areata
Author: Stephen Lyle, M.D., Ph.D.

Conference: DermatopathologyConsultations.com Teaching Collection