Successful surgical management of lipoedematous alopecia

Australas J Dermatol. 2008 Feb;49(1):52-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-0960.2007.00427.x.

Abstract

A 67-year-old Caucasian woman presented with an area of alopecia over the right occipital scalp, which had slowly expanded over the last 10 years. The skin beneath the alopecia felt soft and boggy although the epidermis looked unremarkable. Ultrasound showed thickening of the underlying subcutaneous tissue. Scalp histology showed enlarged fat lobules within the subcutis that infiltrated along fibrous tracts into the mid-dermis. There was a complete loss of hair follicles. These findings were consistent with lipoedematous alopecia of the scalp. Surgical debulking with scalp reduction produced an acceptable result in our patient with no evidence of relapse after 12 months.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alopecia / pathology
  • Alopecia / surgery*
  • Female
  • Fibrosis / pathology
  • Humans
  • Scalp / pathology
  • Scalp / surgery*
  • Scalp Dermatoses / pathology
  • Scalp Dermatoses / surgery*
  • Skin / pathology*
  • Subcutaneous Fat / pathology
  • Subcutaneous Fat / surgery*