Pulse corticosteroid therapy for alopecia areata: study of 139 patients.
OBJECTIVE
Recent reports of pulse corticosteroid therapy for alopecia areata (AA) show its efficacy for patients with a history of < or = 1 year but not for recalcitrant cases or alopecia totalis/universalis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pulse corticosteroid therapy for recent-onset AA patients.


METHODS
A total of 139 severe AA patients aged >15 years were included in this study. The duration from the onset of active hair loss was within 12 months for 125 (89.9%) of those patients.


RESULTS
Of the patients, 72.7% had hair loss on > 50% of their scalp area. Among the recent-onset group (duration of AA < or = 6 months), 59.4% were good responders (> 75% regrowth of alopecia lesions), while 15.8% with > 6 months duration showed a good response. Recent-onset AA patients with less severe disease (< or = 50% hair loss) responded at a rate of 88.0%, but only 21.4% of recent-onset patients with 100% hair loss responded. No serious adverse effects were observed.
Nakajima
Takeshi
T
Department of Regenerative Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Inui
Shigeki
S
Itami
Satoshi
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006197:Hair / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020551:Pulse Therapy, Drug; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D008775:Methylprednisolone