title: Complete remission of alopecia universalis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
abstract: This case report is on a 40-year-old male patient with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) receiving an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in first chronic phase from an HLA-identical sibling brother. He suffered from alopecia universalis occurring 11 years previously. The alopecia involved all body hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes. Between day 40 and day 55 after transplantation, hair started to grow on the chin, eyelashes, and on the top of his head. Immunosuppression was stopped at 6 months because of cytogenetic relapse and incomplete donor chimerism with some renewed hair loss. He returned to full donor chimerism with mild chronic graft-versus-host disease and continued hair growth. With 2 years of follow-up he has remained in continuous remission. Chimerism analyses of hair follicles did not show any donor alleles. Alopecia universalis is probably a chronic autoimmune disorder, curable with replacement of the immune system with an allogeneic HSCT.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Transplant Team, Hematology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Basel University Hospitals, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.forename: Jakob R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Passweg
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heim
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rovó
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meyer-Monard
authors.forename: Stanislaus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buechner
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tichelli
authors.forename: Alois
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gratwohl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000505:Alopecia / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous