Practical guidelines for evaluation of loose anagen hair syndrome

Abstract

Objectives: To better categorize the epidemiologic profile, clinical features, and disease associations of loose anagen hair syndrome (LAHS) compared with other forms of childhood alopecia. Design: Retrospective survey. Setting: Academic pediatric dermatology practice. Patients: Three hundred seventy-four patients with alopecia referred from July 1, 1997, to June 31, 2007. Main Outcome Measures: Epidemiologic data for all forms of alopecia were ascertained, such as sex, age at onset, age at the time of evaluation, and clinical diagnosis. Patients with LAHS were further studied by the recording of family history, disease associations, hair-pull test or biopsy results, hair color, laboratory test result abnormalities, initial treatment, and involvement of eyelashes, eyebrows, and nails. Results: Approximately 10% of all children with alopecia had LAHS. The mean age (95% confidence interval) at onset differed between patients with LAHS (2.8 [1.2-4.3] years) vs patients without LAHS (7.1 [6.6-7.7] years) (P