Alopecia in Children: Common and Uncommon Causes and Treatments

Conclusions

• Trichotillomania can often be misdiagnosed as alopecia areata due to overlapping symptoms, emphasizing the importance of a thorough patient history.
• Behavioral interventions, including habit reversal therapy and N-acetylcysteine, show promise in treating trichotillomania in children.
• Loose Anagen Syndrome is characterized by fragile hair that is prone to breakage and usually improves with age with gentle styling advised.
• Androgenetic alopecia is the primary cause of hair loss in adolescents, presenting with progressive thinning often accompanied by acne and hirsutism.
• Topical and oral minoxidil have been found safe and effective for managing pediatric androgenetic alopecia with a good treatment response rate.
• Genetic testing may be beneficial for diagnosing specific hair loss disorders, particularly when accompanying systemic symptoms are absent.
• Alopecia areata management can be guided by trichoscopy findings, indicating active versus regrowing stages of hair loss and aiding in treatment decisions.
• Telogen effluvium is often a result of stress or nutritional deficiencies and typically resolves with addressing the underlying trigger.
• Emerging therapies, including JAK inhibitors, show promise for severe cases of alopecia areata in adolescents, but require careful monitoring due to potential side effects.