• Anke Herrmann, Gisela Bormann, Wolfgang Christian Marsch, and Johannes Wohlrab.
• Universitätsklinik für Dermatologie und Venerologie der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle. anke.herrmann@medizin.uni-halle.de
• J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2004 Aug 1; 2 (8): 684-6.

AbstractFrontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is an uncommon, slowly progressive, cicatricial alopecia which mainly affects postmenopausal women. It is considered to be a variant of lichen planopilaris. We describe two postmenopausal women who developed over 11 and 24 months an asymptomatic atrophic alopecia, restricted to the frontal hairline. The diagnosis of FFA was confirmed by biopsy showing a perifollicular lymphocytic infiltrate with fibrosis. Topical corticosteroids, in one case combined with minoxidil, administered for 3 months arrested the hair loss. The treatment of FFA is often difficult. In most cases, the disease resolves spontaneously after several years. Immunomodulators such as corticosteroids and calcineurin antagonists should be tried in the early stage of FFA (frontal effluvium with perifollicular erythema) in order to arrest the disease in its inflammatory phase.

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