Curling and kinking of hair caused by etretinate
Schauder, S.; Tsambaos, D.; Nikiforidis, G.
Der Hautarzt; Zeitschrift für Dermatologie Venerologie und verwandte Gebiete 43(8): 509-513
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0017-8470 PMID: 1506218 Document Number: 392043
In two female psoriasis patients, curling and kinking of the scalp hair developed subsequent to a long-term etretinate therapy. Scanning electron microscopic examination of kinking hair revealed twists with sharp-edged defects and splitting of the cuticle cells in several hairshafts. The quantitative determination of the mechanical parameters of these hairs using a computerized system revealed statistically significant changes from the pattern in the scalp hair of untreated psoriasis patients. This finding suggests etretinate-induced alteration of the expression of the psoriatic phenotype in the keratin composition of hair in psoriasis patients.