Pulse corticosteroid therapy for alopecia areata: Study of 139 patients

Background/Aim: Recent reports of pulse corticosteroid therapy for alopecia areata (AA) show its efficacy for patients with a history of <= 1 year but not for recalcitrant cases or alopecia totalis/universalis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pulse corticosteroid therapy for recent-onset AA patients. Method: A total of 139 severe AA patients aged 1 15 years were included in this study. The duration from the onset of active hair loss was within 12 months for 125 (89.9%) of those patients. Results: Of the patients, 72.7% had hair loss on > 50% of their scalp area. Among the recent-onset group (duration of AA <= 6 months), 59.4% were good responders (> 75% regrowth of alopecia lesions), while 15.8% with > 6 months duration showed a good response. Recent-onset AA patients with less severe disease (<= 50% hair loss) responded at a rate of 88.0%, but only 21.4% of recent-onset patients with 100% hair loss responded. No serious adverse effects were observed. Copyright (C) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.