Male Androgenetic Alopecia May be Associated with Nail Fold Changes — Donovan Hair Clinic
One of the ways to examine the microcirculation of blood vessels is to examine nail fold capillaroscopy changes.
Cao et al, 2022
Authors from China set out to investigate whether there are alterations in nailfold capillaries in androgenetic alopecia patients compared to control patients. In addition to examining the type of abnormality a semi-quantitative rating scale was adopted to score the observed capillary abnormalities (0, no changes; 1, <33% capillary alteration or reduction; 2, 33–66% capillary alteration or reduction and 3, >66% capillary alteration or reduction).
A total of 78 men diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia and 78 age- and sex-matched controls were included in the study. The AGA group had a mean age of 29.91 years and the control group had a mean age of 32.76 years. Differences in the ages of these two groups were not significantly different. The numbers of patients with Grades 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 AGA according to the Norwood-Hamilton classification scale were 11 (14.1%), 45 (57.7%), 8 (10.3%), 13 (16.7%) and 1 (1.3%), respectively.
Avascular, Bushy, Bizarre and Disorganized and Dilated Capillaries more Common in AGA
Some capillary changes were more common in AGA than controls and some occurred with similar frequency. Specifically, the frequencies of avascular areas, dilated, bushy and bizarre capillaries and capillary disorganization were statistically higher in the androgenetic alopecia group than in healthy controls. Other abnormalities were similarly common in AGA and controls.
