Are You Confident of the Diagnosis? Perifolliculitis abscedens et suffodiens was first described by Spitzer in 1903 and then aptly so named by Hoffmann in 1908. The first American reports were by Wise and Parkhurst in 1921. Though Gray noted the complementary appearance of acne conglobata and perifolliculitis in 1931, it was not until Kierland…
Are You Confident of the Diagnosis? Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) is presently considered an idiopathic scarring alopecia of the vertex of the scalp appearing most commonly in African-American women. It presents usually in the third or later decades, average age of onset at 38, as a patch of diminished density of hair on the…
Are You Confident of the Diagnosis? Lichen planopilaris (LPP) is a rare chronic scarring folliculitis of the scalp of unknown cause (Figure 1). It is considered a primary scarring alopecia since the follicle itself is targeted by inflammatory cells and scarring occurs first and primarily around the follicular unit. Because T cells are the overwhelmingly…
Are You Confident of the Diagnosis? What you should be alert for in the history Folliculitis decalvans is a chronic inflammatory disease of the vertex of the scalp characterized by painful tender follicular papules and pustules (small or even pinhead-sized), often with associated scale and visible crusts. Eventually, the involved site(s) become an atrophic, shiny,…
