Non-scarring Alopecias in Iranian Patients: A Histopathological Study With Hair Counts

Background and objective: non-scarring alopecia is a challenge in the diagnosis and treatment, rarely studied in asian countries. the current study aimed at evaluating histopathological features including hair count of different subtypes of non-scarring alopecia in iranian patients. methods: the current study was conducted on 114 cases diagnosed with non-scarring alopecia in molecular dermatology research center and pathology department of shiraz university of medical sciences, shiraz, iran. cases with two 4-mm scalp punch biopsies were selected. patients’ clinical data were compared with histological findings. results: androgenetic alopecia (aga) was the most common subtype followed by alopecia areata (aa) and combined aga/telogen effluvium (te). perifollicular inflammation was observed in 21% of aga with a significant difference in males and females (66.7% vs. 33.3%; p-value <0.05). clinical and histopathologic diagnoses were correlated in 55% of cases. maximum correlation was observed in combined aga and chronic te (88%). for vertical sections, the diagnostic rate was 33.6%, while 88% for transverse sections. conclusion: transverse together with vertical sectioning provides most of the information in non-scarring alopecias, while transverse sectioning is enough to diagnose the majority of non-scarring alopecias. perifollicular inflammation was observed in a significant number of cases with aga, more common in males. it is suggested to report such cases as possibly curable.