A Case of Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia in a Patient with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis and Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia: A Review

Frontal fibrosing alopecia is a scarring alopecia, the prevalence of which is increasing worldwide since its first description in 1994. The reason for this emerging epidemic may be a higher exposure to an unknown trigger, although its aethiology and pathogenesis still remain enigmatic. Clinical, trichoscopic, sonographic, and histopathologic findings are allowing clinicians to understand more aspects about this type of cicatricial alopecia. Several treatments have been used in frontal fibrosing alopecia, although the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors seem to be the most promising. The aim of this report is to provide a compilation about the published data regarding frontal fibrosing alopecia in a narrative review.

Antimitochondrial Antibodies and Primary Biliary Cholangitis in Patients with Polymyalgia Rheumatica/Giant Cell Arteritis

Background and Objectives: Laboratory liver abnormalities can be observed in patients affected with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and/or giant cell arteritis (GCA), especially with a cholestatic pattern. The first objective of our review article is to discuss the potential link between antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) and/or primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and PMR/GCA, according to the evidences of literature. The second objective is to discuss the association of PMR/GCA with the other rheumatic diseases having PBC as a common manifestation. Materials and Methods: A literature search was performed on PubMed and Medline (OVID interface) using these terms: polymyalgia rheumatica, giant cell arteritis, antimitochondrial antibodies, primary biliary cholangitis, primary Sjogren’s syndrome, systemic sclerosis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. The search was restricted to all studies and case reports published in any language. Reviews, conference abstracts, comments, and non-original articles were excluded; however, each review’s reference list was scanned for additional publications meeting this study’s aim. When papers reported data partially presented in previous articles, we referred to the most recent published data. Results and Conclusions: Our literature search highlighted that cases reporting an association between AMA, PBC and PMR/GCA were very uncommon; AMA antigenic specificity had never been detected and biopsy-proven PBC was reported only in one patient with PMR/GCA. Finally, the association of PMR/GCA with autoimmune rheumatic diseases in which PBC is relatively common was anecdotal.

Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia and Autoimmune Disorders in a Hispanic Female

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is a cicatricial alopecia characterized by hairline recession. Multiple autoimmune pathologies have been reported in patients with FFA. Despite the fact that FFA etiology remains unknown, there has been described an association with autoimmune disorders probably caused by an altered activity of cytotoxic CD8 T lymphocytes. Moreover, other autoimmune pathologies develop TH1 and TH17 response. Genetics could be responsible, in part, for the role of multiple simultaneous autoimmune disorders. Herein, we describe a case of a female patient with vitiligo, lichen sclerosus, and autoimmune hypothyroidism who developed a pruritic band-like recession of the frontal hairline. More research is needed in this area since autoimmune events in these patients may not be a mere coincidence.