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To the Editor.—
The case report, "Can scalp hair suddenly turn white?" by Drs. F. Helm and H. Milgrom, (Arch Derm102:102-103, 1970) implies that their patient may have developed sudden depigmentation of the scalp hair. From the authors' description it is apparent that the patient developed sudden scalp hair loss which proved to be alopecia areata. For the following reasons the question of "can scalp hair suddenly turn white?" is irrelevant to this case.
It is a fact that the regrown hair in alopecia areata is usually depigmented, as occurred in this case.
According to the content of the paper the patient's brown hairs did not turn white, but they were lost instead.