title: Dermoscopic clues to distinguish trichotillomania from patchy alopecia areata.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Trichotillomania and patchy alopecia areata have similar clinical and dermoscopic features.
  
  
  METHODS
  In trichotillomania, dermoscopy shows decreased hair density, short vellus hair, broken hairs with different shaft lengths, coiled hairs, short vellus hair, trichoptilosis, sparse yellow dots, which may or may not contain black dots and no exclamation mark hairs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the case of patchy alopecia and broken hairs, the absence of exclamation mark hairs suggests a diagnosis of trichotillomania. On the other hand, the finding of yellow dots without black dots does not exclude it.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Dermatologia e Estética do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. leosabraham@gmail.com
authors.forename: Leonardo Spagnol
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: Fernanda Nogueira
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Luna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Azulay-Abulafia
mesh_terms: D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000473:pathology*; D046169:Dermoscopy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D014256:Trichotillomania / Q000473:pathology*