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Case Reports
. 2020 Jan 13;11(1):65-67.
doi: 10.4103/idoj.IDOJ_93_19. eCollection 2020 Jan-Feb.

Monilethrix: A Report of Three Cases in Children Confirmed with Dermoscopy

Remya R Rajamohanan  1 , Biswanath Behera  2 , Prabhakaran Nagendran  3 , Munisamy Malathi  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Monilethrix: A Report of Three Cases in Children Confirmed with Dermoscopy

Remya R Rajamohanan et al. Indian Dermatol Online J. .

Abstract

Monilethrix is a rare hereditary disorder affecting hair resulting in hair fragility and alopecia. We report three patients of monilethrix who presented with complaints of sparse and brittle hair from early childhood. All three patients had multiple discrete hyperkeratotic papules over the scalp. Dermoscopy revealed beaded appearance of hair with the presence of elliptical nodes and intermittent constrictions on the hair shafts as well as broken hairs, which were confirmed with routine microscopic examination of hair. Dermoscopy helps in easier and faster diagnosis of monilethrix.

Keywords: Beaded hair; dermoscopy; monilethrix.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Short and sparse hairs with multiple discrete hyperkeratotic papules over the temporal area of the scalp. (b) Dermoscopy (HEINE DELTA20® nonpolarized contact dermoscope, 10 × magnification) showing regular variations in the diameter of the hair shafts with elliptical nodes separated by internodes, broken hairs (blue arrows), and areas with very much thinned out internodes on the verge of breakage (red arrows)
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Dermoscopy of keratotic papules showing broken and beaded hair emerging from the surface of papules. (b) Routine microscopic examination of scalp hair showing regularly beaded hairs with constriction at the internodal junction (40×)
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Multiple keratotic papules localized over the occipital scalp with sparse hair. (b) Dermoscopy demonstrating regularly arranged nodes and internodes with broken hairs
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Keratotic papules over the occipital scalp along with sparse hair. (b) Sparse hairs over the eyebrows. (c) Almost absent hair over the axilla. (d) Dermoscopy demonstrating regularly arranged nodes and internodes, broken hairs, and exclamation hair-like hairs (blue arrows)
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Dermoscopy of axilla showing sparse axillary hair with alternate nodes and internodes, broken hair, and bend hairs. (b) Dermoscopy of eyebrows showing broken (white arrow), bend (red arrow), and split hair (blue arrow) in addition to nodes and internodes
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References

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