Beard alopecia areata: a multicentre review of 55 patients

摘要

Abstract Background Alopecia areata on the beard area ( BAA ) is a common clinical manifestation, but there are no studies about its characteristics. Objective To describe the epidemiology, comorbidities, clinical presentation, evolution, diagnostic findings and therapeutic choices in a series of patients with BAA . Methods This retrospective multicentre review included patients diagnosed with BAA as the first and unique clinical manifestation with at least 12 months of follow‐up. Diagnosis was performed based on the typical clinical features. Extra‐beard involvement was monitored in all cases. Results Overall, 55 male patients with a mean age of 39.1 years (range 20–74) were included. Twenty‐five patients (45.5%) developed alopecia of the scalp during follow‐up and more than 80% of cases appeared in the first 12.4 months. Clinical presentation of AA on the scalp was patchy AA (less than 5 patches) (52%), multifocal AA (28%), AA totalis (12%) and AA universalis (8%). Multivariate analysis revealed a trend of association between scalp involvement and family history of AA without statistical significance. Conclusions According to this study, BAA may progress to scalp AA in a significant number of patients (45.5% of the patients with a follow‐up interval of at least 12 months). In the group of patients who developed scalp AA , 80% of them did it within the first 12 months, so follow‐up of patients with BAA is highly encouraged.