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Diffuse Alopecia. Presented by Dr. Nelson Paul Anderson.
F. E., a white woman aged 30, presents a marked generalized thinning of the hair over the entire scalp. What few hairs remain are from ½ to ¾ inch (1.3 to 1.9 cm.) in length. There is no scaling of the scalp. No keratosis pilaris is present.The Wassermann reaction was negative. Examination of the hairs showed no fungi.The patient has been treated with a mild ointment of sulfur and salicylic acid.
DISCUSSION
Dr. Samuel Ayres Jr.: The condition is a type of toxic alopecia. According to the patient, the present attack was not preceded by fever. There might be some chronic focus of infection which precipitated this attack, which is taking the form of diffuse rather than localized alopecia. I have seen both diffuse alopecia and alopecia areata after acute infections. During the epidemic of influenza in 1918 I had