Trichoscan: results using a 5% minoxidil topical solution in men with androgenetic alopecia

Abstract

Hair loss or hair thinning is a common complaint and the effects of treatment attempts are hard to measure. Recently, we have developed the TrichoScan as a method, which combines epiluminescence (skin) microscopy (ELM) with automatic digital image analysis for the measurement of human, and potentially, animal hair, in situ. The TrichoScan is able to analyze all biological parameters of hair growth with a so-called intraclass correlation of approx. 91% within the same TrichoScan operator and of approx. 97% for different TrichoScan operators. Herewith, the power and accuracy of the TrichoScan is demonstrated by comparing the hair parameters of 10 men with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) who were treated for 6 months with a 5% minoxidil topical solution. Compared to baseline, we were able to detect a statistically significant increase in total hair counts (189, 6/cm2 vs. 163, 7/cm2; p 0.067) and cumulative hair thickness (18, 04 mm/cm2 vs 14, 82 mm/cm2 p 0.016) at month 6. Furthermore, we were able to detect an increase in terminal hairs (hairs thicker than 40 m) after treatment (175, 1/cm2 vs. 148, 8/cm2; p 0.082). These results show that the TrichoScan is able to measure significant changes in a variety of hair parameters, as shown in a rather small group of men treated with a 5% minoxidil topical solution for 6 months. Therefore, the TrichoScan is well suited for clinical studies as an evaluation tool for all hair colors to compare placebo to active drugs or to compare the capacities of different hair-growth promoting substances. It is well suited for the study of AGA or other forms of diffuse hair loss and can be adopted to study the effect of drugs or laser treatment on hypertrichosis or hirsutism.