title: Essential syphilitic alopecia revisited.
abstract: There has been a resurgence of syphilis in the past decade. Uncommonly, diffuse hair loss, termed essential alopecia, is the only sign of syphilitic infection. We describe two patients with syphilis in whom the first sign of disease was alopecia and discuss the clinical and histopathologic findings of essential syphilitic alopecia.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., USA.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Cuozzo
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Sperling
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Skelton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000505:Alopecia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013587:Syphilis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis