Introduction
The treatment of alopecia areata with systemically administered cortisone, first found to be effective by Dillaha and Rothman,1 poses the long-term practical problem of undesirable side-effects. Intralesional injection, on the other hand, permits localization of effective steroid dosages in selected sites without systemic effects. In spite of the fact that there are adrenal steroid compounds which satisfy both requirements of effectiveness in stimulating hair regrowth and of persistence in tissue, none have consistently maintained regrown hair for more than a few weeks to 9 months after cessation of treatment.2-5This is a report of the observations recorded in 4 patients with alopecia areata, selected for intralesional injections of triamcinolone suspension* to evaluate its usefulness in treatment of suitable cases with restricted hair loss.
Method
Single lesions or parts of lesions were injected subcutaneously each time with a total of 0.2 ml. (2 mg.) of 0.1% triamcinolone suspension