BACKGROUND: Little is known concerning hair diameter variation within the safe donor area for hair transplantation surgery. Thicker or thinner hair may be needed, depending on the recipient area, hairline design, and the purpose of surgery. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients (7 men and 20 women; mean age, 28 years; range, 20–47 years) were included in this study. The midoccipital point was used as the reference point on the horizontal plane at the upper border of the helical rim. The target area width was 15 cm (7.5 cm to the right and left of the reference point) and the height was 8 cm (2 cm above and 6 cm below the reference point). The study area was divided horizontally into 3 5-cm sections (A, B, C) and vertically into 4 2-cm sections (1–4), creating a total of 12 zones. Ten anagen hairs were randomly obtained from each zone and their diameters were measured. RESULTS: Hair diameter in the 4 vertical sections varied significantly, gradually decreasing from sections 1 (superior) to 4 (inferior) in all 3 horizontal sections (A, B, and C). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that sections 1 and 2 of the occipital safe donor area would be useful for obtaining thicker hair, such as in procedures to treat male- and female-pattern hair loss, whereas hair from zones 3 and 4 could be useful for transplantation surgery requiring thinner hair, such as eyebrows, eyelashes, and female hairline correction. Our results may be clinically valuable for planning hair transplant surgery and choosing the optimal donor region.
Eyebrows ; Eyelashes ; Female ; Hair Follicle ; Hair* ; Humans ; Male ; Tissue Donors* ; Transplant Donor Site ; Transplantation

BACKGROUND: Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA), typically observed in elderly women, is characterized by a band of frontal or frontoparietal hair recession with scarring and a marked decrease, or a complete loss of the eyebrows. OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical and histopathological features, and response to treatment of FFA in Korean patients. METHODS: A total of 7 female patients, diagnosed as FFA at our department from 2003 through 2006, were evaluated. RESULTS: All patients presented with a band of symmetric recession of the frontoparietal hairline. Four patients (57.1%) had symmetric loss of lateral eyebrows. Two patients (28.6%) were premenopausal. The histologic features were similar in all patients with a reduction of the number of hair follicles, and a perifollicular lymphocytic infiltration with lamellar fibrosis limited to the upper portions of the follicles. The progression of the condition stopped in all patients after topical steroid treatment. CONCLUSION: Cases of FFA affected in premenopausal female patients drove us to consider that this condition is not exclusive to postmenopausal females. To make a diagnosis of FFA, we should remind ourselves of the typical clinical and pathologic features. Further studies are necessary to confirm the possible role of treatment in FFA and stop the progression in the early stages of FFA.
Aged ; Alopecia ; Cicatrix ; Eyebrows ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans

We report a sporadic case of hypotrichosis simplex of the scalp, a rare genotrichosis, characterized by sparse or absent scalp hair with no structural defect of the hair shaft, in the absence of other ectodermal or systemic abnormalities. A 9-year-old girl had normal-looking hair at birth but subsequently lost the hair on her scalp after she turned 3 years of age. However, her eyebrows and eyelashes remained normal. Skin, nails and teeth were also normal except for malocclusion. No other family member had a similar hair defect. Hair shaft examination did not reveal any structural abnormalities. Microscopic examination of a scalp biopsy specimen showed a reduced number of hair follicles.
Biopsy ; Child ; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities ; Ectoderm ; Eyebrows ; Eyelashes ; Female ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Hypotrichosis* ; Malocclusion ; Parturition ; Scalp* ; Skin ; Tooth

A 26-year-old Korean woman had a 5 month history of pruritic, keratotic papules on the scalp, trunk, and pubic area, which were accompanied by diffuse hair loss from the scalp, eyebrows and pubic area. She also had flat-topped violaceous papules on the scalp and pubic area, and white lace-like striae on the oral mucous and hard palate. Histopathologic study of the progressive stages of the disease revealed dilated follicles filled with horny material, hyperkeratosis, hypergranulosis and hydropic degeneration of the basal cell layer. Throughout the entire subepidermal region, there was an intense bandlike infiltration of mononuclear cells, which were most prominent at the lower pole of the hair follicles. The late stage of the disorder showed atrophy of the epidermis and atrophy of the hair follicles with fibrotic tracts, and mild mononuclear infiltrate at the sites of the former hair follicles. This is the first recorded case, to the best of cur knowledge, in Korea.
Adult ; Atrophy ; Epidermis ; Eyebrows ; Female ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Korea ; Lichens* ; Palate, Hard ; Scalp

OBJECTIVES: To identify the species of mammalian hair using COⅠ gene mini-barcoding technology. METHODS: A pair of universal primers for mammalian COⅠ gene mini-barcoding were designed. The hair DNA samples of experimental animals from 11 species in 5 orders, mammalia was amplified by PCR technology with universal primers, and the PCR products were sequenced by bi-directional DNA and after the sequences splicing the results were deposited into the BOLD database to perform the homology comparison. RESULTS: The DNA of hair from all experiment animal species could be totally amplified by the mini-barcoding universal primers designed in this study. The length of amplified fragment was 147 bp. The result of homology comparison in the database showed that the closest matching species were consistent with the experiment animal species. In addition to the matching degree of Panthera leo （98.99%）, all homology matching degree of the other experiment animals were 100%, and the intraspecific genetic distance of Panthera leo was 1%. The interspecific genetic distance was ten times more than the intraspecific genetic distance which could be used for species identification. CONCLUSIONS The COⅠ gene mini-barcode technology is established and can provide fast and accurate species identification for hair of mammals.
Animal Fur ; Animals ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; DNA Primers ; Hair ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Species Specificity

Tumor of the follicular infundibulum is a rare benign adnexal tumor originating from the infundibular portion of hair follicle and the majority of lesions have been solitary and not recognized clinically before biopsy. A 28-year-old female presented with a bean-sized hairless yellowish plaque on the right upper eyebrow, clinically diagnosed as nevus sebaceus. After complete excision, histopathologic examination of the specimen revealed a focal circumscribed subepidermal tumor roughly parallel to the epidermis, composed of proliferation of pale-staining cells containing diastase-labile PAS(+) glycogen, enclosed by a palisaded basal layer with underlying lesion of nevus sebaceus. Upper dermis directly beneath the tumor had accentuated elastic fiber network outlining the tumor base in the elastic stain.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Dermis ; Elastic Tissue ; Epidermis ; Eyebrows ; Female ; Glycogen ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Nevus*

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is a rare subtype of cicatricial alopecia. It was first described in 1994 by Kossard as postmenopausal frontal fibrosing alopecia. Patients who suffer from FFA show typical frontal hairline recession, and most patients experience eyebrow loss. It usually affects mainly post-menopausal women but the hormonal change due to menopause is unclear. Etiology of FFA is not clear, but it is assumed that certain autoantigens in the frontal and eyebrow hair follicles play a key role in its pathogenesis. There is no optimal treatment thus far. However, recently, topical calcineurin inhibitor was shown to be effective in early stage FFA via follicular targeted T-cell inhibition. Here, we report a case of a premenopausal 50-year-old female patient suffering from FFA displaying typical clinical features and minimal fibrosis around follicles by histological examination, which were improved by treatment with short-term systemic steroid and long-term topical calcineurin inhibitor.
Alopecia ; Autoantigens ; Calcineurin ; Eyebrows ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Menopause ; Middle Aged ; Stress, Psychological ; T-Lymphocytes

Pilomatrixoma, a rare benign tumor which consists of basophils and shadow cells, has not been reported in Korea. It originates from a hair follicle and occurs commonly on eyelids and the eyebrow in children and young adults. We expoerienced a 7 year-old male who had a progressive growing palpable mass on the upper eyelid. The systemic steroid was administrated under the impression of hemangioma, but there was no effect. So, the mass was exploratorily excised and confirmed as pilomatrixoma by pathologic examinations. We present a case of pilomatrixoma on the upper eyelid in a child.
Basophils ; Child ; Eyebrows ; Eyelids* ; Hair Follicle ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Pilomatrixoma* ; Young Adult

We reported a case of follicular mucinosis which occurred in a 51 year old m;', . He had a firm grouped folliculopapular plaque above left eyebrow with ill-defined border, without any loss of eyebrow. But histopathologic findings showed charac- teristic changes in hair follicles and sebaceous glands with mucinous degeneration and no evidence of suggesting mycosis fungoides. Relatively rapid response to systemic corticosteroid suggested that this therapy had an actual effect.
Eyebrows ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mucinosis, Follicular ; Mucins ; Mycosis Fungoides ; Sebaceous Glands

Vitiligo has been associated with various disorders including thyroid disease, type I diabetes, alopecia areatal and pernicious anemia. It has been purported to be caused by autoimmune response. Vitiligo and alopecia areata occurring in the same patient has often been found, but colocalization of these two diseases has been rarely reported. It is suggested that this concurrence can result from a nonspecific immune mechanism affecting not only the melanocyte but the epithelium of the hair follicle as well. Thus colocalization can occur due to costimulation of a helper T-cell-mediated immunologic response or through inactivation of a suppressor-mediated response and other composite mechanisms such as neurogenic factors, stress and infection. We report a 17-year-old Korean female who presented with a 1-year history of alopecia and depigmentation on the same site of the left eyebrow. We diagnosed this skin lesion as colocalization of vitiligo and alopecia areata by both clinical and histopathological findings.
Adolescent ; Alopecia Areata* ; Alopecia* ; Anemia, Pernicious ; Autoimmunity ; Epithelium ; Eyebrows ; Female ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Melanocytes ; Skin ; Thyroid Diseases ; Vitiligo*