title: Beard alopecia areata: a multicentre review of 55 patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alopecia areata on the beard area (BAA) is a common clinical manifestation, but there are no studies about its characteristics.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the epidemiology, comorbidities, clinical presentation, evolution, diagnostic findings and therapeutic choices in a series of patients with BAA.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective multicentre review included patients diagnosed with BAA as the first and unique clinical manifestation with at least 12 months of follow-up. Diagnosis was performed based on the typical clinical features. Extra-beard involvement was monitored in all cases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 55 male patients with a mean age of 39.1 years (range 20-74) were included. Twenty-five patients (45.5%) developed alopecia of the scalp during follow-up and more than 80% of cases appeared in the first 12.4 months. Clinical presentation of AA on the scalp was patchy AA (less than 5 patches) (52%), multifocal AA (28%), AA totalis (12%) and AA universalis (8%). Multivariate analysis revealed a trend of association between scalp involvement and family history of AA without statistical significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to this study, BAA may progress to scalp AA in a significant number of patients (45.5% of the patients with a follow-up interval of at least 12 months). In the group of patients who developed scalp AA, 80% of them did it within the first 12 months, so follow-up of patients with BAA is highly encouraged.
authors: Dermatology Department, Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Saceda-Corralo
authors: Dermatology Department, Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Madrid, Spain.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Grimalt
authors: Dermatology Department, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica (IMIBIC), Córdoba, Spain.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Fernández-Crehuet
authors: Dermatology Department, Arrixaca-Murcia, Madrid, Spain.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Clemente
authors: Dermatology Department, Fundación Jiménez Diaz-Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Bernárdez
authors: Dermatology Department, Hospital Virgen Macarena-Sevilla, Madrid, Spain.
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: García-Hernandez
authors: Dermatology Department, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Arias-Santiago
authors: Dermatology Department, Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain.|Dermatology Department, Grupo Pedro Jaén-Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors: A R
authors: AR
authors: Rodrigues-Barata
authors: Dermatology Department, Hospital Virgen Macarena-Sevilla, Madrid, Spain.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Rodríguez-Pichardo
authors: Dermatology Department, Hospital Virgen de las Nieves-Granada, Madrid, Spain.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: García-Lora
authors: Dermatology Department, Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain.|Dermatology Department, Grupo Pedro Jaén-Madrid, Madrid, Spain.|Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alcala.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Jaén
authors: Dermatology Department, Hospital Virgen Macarena-Sevilla, Madrid, Spain.
authors: F M
authors: FM
authors: Camacho
authors: Dermatology Department, Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain.|Dermatology Department, Grupo Pedro Jaén-Madrid, Madrid, Spain.|Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alcala.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Vañó-Galván
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult