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Dermatography as a new treatment for alopecia areata of the eyebrows
E M van der Velden1, B H Drost, O E Ijsselmuiden
1Department of Dermato-Venereology, Academic Hospital Rotterdam-Dijkzigt, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Background:
Alopecia areata is considered to be an autoimmune disease. It consists of patchy hair loss of the scalp and the eyebrows, making it a disfiguring condition. This 10-year study was designed to assess the usefulness of the treatment of the eyebrows with dermatography as a relatively quick and simple method to obtain a cosmetically satisfactory result.
Materials And Methods:
The eyebrow areas were covered with a halftone pattern of tiny dots of color pigments, using a Van der Velden Derma-injector, without anesthesia. On average, two to three dermatography sessions of 1 h were required. The follow-up was 4 years.
Results:
Thirty three patients, most of whom had been previously treated with a sensitizer such as dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), were treated with dermatography. Four patients had also been treated by a beautician with a crude form of tattooing. The results in 30 patients were excellent. In three patients the results were good.
Conclusions:
Dermatography is a technique offering a good alternative for time-consuming, troublesome treatment modalities that often have considerable side-effects. With dermatography, no side-effects were found.