The medical treatment of cicatricial alopecia

Abstract

The best outcome of current treatments of cicatricial alopecia is induction of a clinical remission with arrest of symptoms and signs, but the progression of hair loss may continue insidiously. Current treatments do not arrest the underlying disease process. A scalp biopsy is the first step in management. Selection of treatment described herein is guided by the histopathologic findings, including the type, location and extent of the predominant cellular inflammatory infiltrate, and clinical disease activity. Cicatricial alopecias with predominantly lymphocytic infiltrates are treated with immunomodulating agents, and those with predominantly neutrophilic infiltrates are treated with antimicrobial agents. Treatment selection may be challenging and requires flexibility, as histopathologic features frequently overlap, are not clear cut, or change over time. In the future, cellular and molecular biology studies will hopefully identify unique markers for the clinically distinct cicatricial alopecias and lead to better treatments and a cure.