Topical immunotherapy in alopecia areata: anamnestic and clinical criteria of prognostic significance.
BACKGROUND
Topical immunotherapy of alopecia areata (AA) is an effective but time-consuming treatment with unknown long-term risks.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to identify criteria which allow a selection of patients with a good prognosis for topical immunotherapy with diphencyprone.


METHODS
The anamnestic and clinical data of 50 successfully and 55 unsuccessfully treated patients were compared by the Mann-Whitney test.


RESULTS
Five factors were found to be of prognostic significance: type of AA (p < or = 0.001), presence of nail changes (p < or = 0.001), duration of AA before treatment (p < or = 0.005), age at onset (p < or = 0.01) and association with atopic eczema (p < or = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
A selection of AA patients who are likely to respond to topical immunotherapy is possible on the basis of anamnestic and clinical data.
Weise
K
K
Department of Dermatology, University of Münster, Germany.
Kretzschmar
L
L
John
S M
SM
Hamm
H
H
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003521:Cyclopropanes / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009262:Nails; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis
D003521:Cyclopropanes; C029402:diphenylcyclopropenone