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ArticleIndian dermatology online journal2026

Dermoscopic Analysis of Patients with and without Poor Prognostic Indicators in Alopecia Areata - A Comparative Study.

Chinmoy Raj, Dillip Behera, Debasmita Behera, Farheen Begum, Shini Choubey

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Article in Indian dermatology online journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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5 · Who and what money

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5 authors.

Chinmoy RajDepartment of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.ORCID 0000-0002-4160-5722
Dillip Behera

Funding

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6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlopecia areata (AA) is an unpredictable disease that manifests as rapid and patchy hair loss and may involve any hair-bearing part of the body. We used dermoscopy to compare the dermoscopic findings of AA in patients with and without poor prognostic indicators. AIMS AND

objectivesTo compare the key variations in dermoscopic features between patients of AA with and without poor prognostic indicators. PATIENTS AND

methodsThis was a retrospective study carried out at a tertiary care teaching hospital in eastern Odisha. The study included the patients of scalp AA from October 2023 to October 2024. A total of 85 patients of AA were evaluated using the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score and Dermlite DL3 attached to iPhone 12.

resultsA total of 85 patients with AA were included in our study (male: female ratio ~ 2:1). The mean (± standard deviation) age of patients was 26.61 ± 9.82 years. The mean duration of the disease was 5.98 ± 11.74 months. Patchy AA was the most common. The most common dermoscopic feature observed was yellow dots (83.5%), followed by broken hairs (65.9%), black dots (51.8%), vellus hairs (51.8%), tapering hairs (50.6%), and coudability hairs (22.4%). Patients with poor prognostic markers had a substantially higher SALT score (34.99 ± 37.21) compared to those without (10.75 ± 14.08), with P = 0.002. A statistically significant high SALT score was recorded in patients with disease duration >3 months. The dermoscopic features that were significantly more frequent in patients having poor prognostic factors were yellow dots ( P = 0.000), black dots ( P = 0.02), broken hairs ( P = 0.03), and coudability hairs ( P = 0.000), while in patients without poor prognosis, vellus hairs ( P = 0.005) were more commonly seen. The finding of tapering hair ( P = 0.1) was not found to be significantly associated with either group. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective nature of the study and not assessing dermoscopic response to treatment.

conclusionOurs is the first study to emphasize the comparison of dermoscopic features of AA in patients with and without poor prognostic indicators. Yellow dots, black dots, broken hairs, and coudability hairs were associated with adverse prognosis, while vellus hair indicated a favorable outcome. Identifying these key dermoscopic markers can help to assess the disease severity, potentially refine prognostic assessments, and guide treatment decisions.

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PMID40709872
PMCPMC12854584

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