Despite the high prevalence and impact on quality of life, there still remains a lack of objective methods to assess the severity of female pattern hair loss (FPHL). Thus, the present study developed a dermoscopic severity score for FPHL. 

It enrolled 76 women with FPHL and 12 controls. The study recorded standardized dermoscopic photos of the scalp to evaluate the main findings of FPHL. 

It retested 20 participants to assess the reliability and tested 10 participants before and after treatment to estimate its sensibility to change after 6 months. 

The study observed:

• Sinclair clinical scale grade I in 11%, grade II in 53%, grade III in 25% and grades IV and V in 12% of the participants.
• Multivariate exploration revealed total terminal hairs, total miniaturized hairs, brown peripilar sign, scalp honeycomb pigmentation, white peripilar sign, and yellow dots as significant variables.
• A high correlation (rho = 0.89) with the ranked clinical assessment in the final model. 

This study developed and validated an objective and reliable severity score of FPHL, allowing its use as an additional outcome in therapeutic trials.

Source: Penha MÁ, Müller Ramos P, de Souza V, et al. Development and validation of a dermoscopic severity score for female pattern hair loss. Skin Appendage Disord. 2022;8(3):228-35.