Hair Transplantation for Men with Advanced Degrees of Hair Loss

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Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 2003; 111(1):414-421
Hair Transplantation for Men with Advanced Degrees of Hair Loss

In the field of surgical hair restoration, there is probably no greater challenge than treating the individual with advanced male pattern hair loss. Recent developments in follicular unit grafting and recognition of the natural appearance of the transplanted frontal forelock have now made it possible to obtain excellent, undetectable results in these patients. Over a 22-month period, the onset correlating with the time when the author began to use the technique of follicular unit grafting, 61 of 322 hair transplant procedures (approximately 20 percent) performed for male pattern hair loss were on men with, or at high risk of developing, advanced male pattern hair loss. Uniformly, the creation of some type of frontal forelock provided excellent results and high patient satisfaction. The concept of the frontal forelock is not new. Developments in aesthetic principles, enhanced understanding of its applicability, and the applied advantages of follicular unit grafting allow for the first time, truly undetectable results.

J Am Acad Dermatol 2002 Nov;47(5):795

Female pattern hair loss.

In this issue of the Journal (pages 733-9), Shum et al1 describe 4 female patients with increased androgens whose central scalp hair loss responded to finasteride. This is an important observation and one that highlights why the term androgenetic or androgenic alopecia, as used to describe the hereditary pattern balding of men, should be replaced with the term female pattern hair loss when applied to women.2 It is clear that only a small but distinct subset of women with central scalp pattern hair loss, such as the patients presented in the report by Shum et al, has signs of hyperandrogenism such as acne, hirsutism, and irregular periods with or without elevation of serum androgens. Therefore these women may have hair loss resulting from a different mechanism and may respond differently to treatments targeted at androgen blockade than women with a similar type of hair loss but without evidence of hyperandrogenism. Certainly these women with hyperandrogenemia may develop, in contradistinction to those without hyperandrogenemia, a Hamilton pattern of hair loss (male pattern baldness). Many of these women may, on more careful evaluation, have polycystic ovarian syndrome.

It is not surprising that a 5-reductase inhibitor such as finasteride, which has documented efficacy in men with androgenetic alopecia3,4 and has been shown to advantageously affect hirsutism,5,6 may cause hair growth in women with female pattern hair loss and hyperandrogenism. The fact that finasteride has not previously been shown to induce hair growth in postmenopausal women with “androgenetic alopecia”7 speaks for (1) adoption of different terminology for this type of hair loss in women and (2) separate evaluation of the different subgroups of women with female pattern hair loss as recently described,2 that is, early onset with and without hyperandrogenemia and late onset/postmenopausal with and without hyperandrogenemia. We should not be too quick to rule out efficacy of a potential therapeutic agent in all women with female pattern hair loss without first testing it in all the various subsets of women.

Clearly, finasteride may be an effective treatment for women with early-onset female pattern hair loss and hyperandrogenemia, but definitive results would require a large, well-controlled trial. Such a trial would likely necessitate inclusion of a “placebo” run-in phase with an oral contraceptive, both to protect these women of child-bearing potential from getting pregnant while taking a drug known to cause genital abnormalities in male fetuses and to rule out any effect from the oral contraceptive alone on female pattern hair loss (a study that needs to be conducted in any case). Anecdotal reports, such as that presented by Shum et al,1 should ignite interest in evaluating finasteride and other 5-reductase inhibitors, either type II or combination type I/II, in women with female pattern hair loss, a group of patients whose current treatment options are extremely limited.

Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2003 May;30(5):653-9.

Weekly paclitaxel administration in the adjuvant therapy of primary breast cancer

PURPOSE: To investigate feasibility and toxicity of weekly paclitaxel administration in the adjuvant therapy of primary breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-one patients with primary breast cancer received sustained weekly infusion of paclitaxel at a dose of 90 mg/body for 6 weeks followed by a 2-week interval. This weekly schedule was repeated twice. Leukocytes were checked immediately before every infusion and the dose was reduced to 80 mg/body when grade 1 neutropenia occurred. All patients were assessable for feasibility and toxicity. RESULTS: A total 349 weekly paclitaxel infusions were administrated to 31 patients (median, 12 infusions/patient). The median delivered dose-intensity was 88.0 mg/body/week (range 80 to 90). Therapy was well tolerated and completed in 27 patients. Four patients refused to continue the therapy because of nausea, fatigue, dizziness and weight gain. Grade 2 neutropenia occurred in 10 patients (32.3%), but grade 3 neutropenia did not occur. Grade 1 peripheral neuropathy occurred in 3 patients (9.7%). Grade 1 nausea occurred in 3 patients (9.7%). CONCLUSION: Weekly paclitaxel administration is well tolerated with a favorable toxicity profile in patients with primary breast cancer in the adjuvant setting. Weekly paclitaxel therapy can be performed safely in the outpatient setting.

J Cardiovasc Risk. 2003 Jun;10(3):227-31.

Hair loss, insulin resistance, and heredity in middle-aged women. A population-based study.

CONTEXTThe association of androgenic alopecia (AGA) with insulin resistance, coronary artery disease and hypercholesterolemia has been previously reported in men, but no such association has been reported in women with female androgenic alopecia (AGA). Female AGA has usually been linked with hyper-androgenism and hirsutism and, most recently, also with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), even though epidemiological documentation of the latter association is scanty. Polycystic ovarian syndrome is quite common among Caucasian women, and its association with insulin resistance is well documented.OBJECTIVES AND DESIGNThe aim of this study was to obtain a more precise estimation of the prevalence on female AGA and to describe its possible connections with insulin resistance linked parameters and with paternal and maternal family history of alopecia. A cross-sectional population based cohort survey was carried out in the City of Oulu, Finland in 1998.SETTING AND PARTICIPANTSAs a part of a population based cohort study the hair status of 324 women aged 63 years was assessed by a modification of Ludwig's scale. The background data consisting of anthropometric measures (weight, height, body mass index, waist, hip and neck circumferences), smoking status, chronic diseases and their medication as well as the family history of AGA were collected by questionnaires and interviews made by study nurses and in clinical examination. Blood samples for laboratory tests were taken on the same occasion.RESULTSThe prevalence of extensive loss of hair (at least grade II or III on Ludwig's scale) was quite high (31.2%). The insulin resistance associated parameters, such as waist and neck circumferences, abdominal obesity measured by waist-to-hip ratio, mean insulin concentration (11.3 mU/l versus 9.95 mU/l, p=0.02) or urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (1.80 versus 1.58, p=0.01), were significantly higher in women with extensive hair loss compared to those with normal hair or only minimal hair loss (grade I on Ludwig's scale). The women belonging to the highest quintiles of neck or waist circumferences had significantly increased risk for extensive hair loss compared to those with normal hair or minimal hair loss, the unadjusted ORs being 2.25 (95% CI, 1.26-4.03) and 1.75 (95% CI, 1.00-3.07), respectively. Similarly in women with hyperinsulinemia (fs-insulin >10 mU/l), microalbuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio exceeding the highest microalbuminuria decile (>2.5 mg/mmol) and paternal history of AGA the ORs for alopecia were increased being 1.65 (95% CI, 1.02-2.67), 2.39 (95% CI, 1.21-4.73) and 2.08 (95% CI, 1.26-3.44). All of these ORs, except those for highest quintiles of waist and neck circumferences remained significant in multiple adjusted models.CONCLUSIONSAccording to the results of this study, female AGA (grade II or III on Ludwig's scale) was quite common among Finnish women aged 63 years. Our results support the hypothesis that women with some markers of insulin resistance have significantly increased risk for female AGA. Paternal history of alopecia seemed to be more common in female AGA compared to women with normal or minimal loss of hair.

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