title: Use of the TrichoScan to assess female pattern hair loss.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  TrichoScan is a method of hair growth measurement that combines epiluminescence microscopy with automatic digital image analysis. Miniaturization is considered a cornerstone of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and is requisite for establishing the diagnosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine miniaturization in women with AGA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight women with Ludwig pattern (aged 21-68, mean 46) were included. Miniaturization was estimated using the TrichoScan method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost one-quarter (21.4%) of the women had miniaturized hair only on the top of the head (the crown), 28.6% had miniaturized hair throughout the scalp, and 50.0% showed no miniaturization but a preponderance of thinning in the crown area. In all patients, a comparative study of hair diameter revealed significant differences between the crown and the occipital region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results imply that, in female hair loss, miniaturization might be a relative and not an absolute measurement, and AGA in women could be diagnosed also in the presence of a difference in hair shaft diameter.
authors.affiliation: Sana Health Centre (Sana Gesundheitszentrum Berlin), Berlin, Germany. riedel-baima@gmx.de
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Riedel-Baima
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riedel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000505:Alopecia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D046169:Dermoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult