This article has been peer reviewed and approved by Michael Fisher, MD, Professor of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Review date: April 2010.
Drs. Ntuen and Stein report no conflict of interest. The authors report no discussion of off-label use. Dr. Fisher reports no conflict of interest. The staff of CCME of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Cutis® have no conflicts of interest with commercial interest related directly or indirectly to this educational activity. Dr. Ntuen was a medical student, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and currently is an intern, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Dr. Stein is Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago, Illinois, and Attending Physician, Section of Dermatology, University of Chicago Hospitals.
Edidiong Ntuen, MD; Sarah L. Stein, MD
Traumatic hair loss is a scalp injury that can cause secondary scarring alopecia. It can result from different types of physical and chemical injury. Hair loss induced by certain hairstyling techniques has been discussed, but we describe a preceding ulcerative process. We describe 3 black adolescent girls with hairpin-induced alopecia that started with an ulcer and ended with a scar. We also review the dermatologic literature.
