[Treatment of alopecia areata with dinitrochlorobenzol (DNCB)]

Twenty-two patients with severe forms of alopecia areata were treated about 4--16 months with dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) dissolved in acetone. According to the patients' reactivity to DNCB the chemical was applied to the scalp in various concentration once a week. In 14 patients we observed the therapeutic effect of DNCB is unknown. Possibly it might be due to a change in the local immunoregulation. At the present time this treatment cannot be recommended for general use.