Profuse Hair Loss

Abstract

To the Editor.— Recently we saw two female patients complaining of profuse hair loss. Because of the unusual cause, we should like to share these cases with your readers in the hope of hearing of similar cases. Report of Cases.—Case 1.— A 29-year-old woman had profuse hair loss for three weeks. She had been in excellent health, had not been taking any medications or drugs, and had no history of pregnancy, recent surgery, general anesthesia, febrile illnesses, and traumatic or emotional stress. Examination of the scalp revealed normal findings, but scattered hairs, all telogen hairs, could easily be pulled from her scalp. Extraction of 50 hairs from a circumscript area showed 36% telogen ratio. Further questioning revealed that, three months prior to the examination, the patient had embarked on a weight reduction program by a limited dietary intake and daily injections of chorionic gonadotropin (human chorionic gonadotropin) (dosage unknown) for