Hair loss in autoimmune systemic diseases

Hair loss is commonly seen in autoimmune diseases. In pemphigus, although scalp involvement is common, hair loss is rarely reported. In classical bullous pemphigoid, alopecia is not reported while it is described in the Brusting-Perry variant of bullous pemphigoid and in epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. In these two diseases alopecia is cicatricial. In connective tissue diseases, in lupus erythematosus (LE) hair loss is frequent; in particular in LE there are two types of alopecia: non scarring and scarring alopecia. The non scarring form is a finding of acute systemic LE and the scarring form develops when a typical discoid lesion is located on the scalp. In dermatomyositis alopecia is usually non scarring and generalized. In scleroderma, alopecia is associated with en coupe de sabre morphea.