Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography: A new diagnostic method of lichen planopilaris

Kurzeja, Marta; Warszawik‐Hendzel, Olga; Rakowska, Adriana; Graczyk, Alina; Fedorczuk, Danuta; Czuwara, Joanna; Olszewska, Malgorzata; Rudnicka, Lidia

doi:10.1111/srt.13495

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…have already described LC‐OCT as a useful diagnostic tool in two forms of cicatricial alopecia, namely LPP and folliculitis decalvans. 23 , 24 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography: Characteristic hints for the diagnosis of scarring alopecia due to lupus erythematodes: A preliminary study

Nutz,

Deußing,

Hartmann

et al. 2024

Skin Research and Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionLupus erythematosus (LE) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease, that can affect the skin to varying degree. In particular, discoid LE (DLE) and the rare form of lupus panniculitis/profundus are associated with scarring alopecia. The heterogeneity of the clinical, dermatoscopic, and histologic presentation poses a major challenge to the clinician in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of other forms of scarring alopecia.ObjectiveWhile noninvasive imaging techniques using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) have proven to be helpful in the diagnosis of scarring alopecia in the context of LE, this study aimed to investigate line‐field confocal OCT (LC‐OCT) to identify characteristic features of cicatricial alopecia in LE.MethodsFifteen patients with cicatricial alopecia in LE were included and the most affected/inflamed areas of the scalp were prospectively examined. In analogy to histopathology and previously reported criteria in RCM, all images were evaluated according to seven established criteria and underwent descriptive analyses.ResultsLC‐OCT revealed characteristic features of cicatricial alopecia, such as lymphocytic interface dermatitis (14/15; 93.3%) and basal cell vacuolization (13/15; 86.7%). The most impressive feature was the occurrence of prominent hyperreflective fibers in 14/15 patients (93.3%).ConclusionLC‐OCT imaging can noninvasively detect morphologic criteria such as lymphocytic and vacuolar interface dermatitis of cicatricial alopecia due to LE. In particular, the presence of hyperreflective collagen fibers appears to be a characteristic easily recognizable feature that may facilitate differential diagnosis with other forms of cicatricial alopecia. Further studies are mandatory to differentiate other forms of scarring alopecia.

show abstract

“…have already described LC‐OCT as a useful diagnostic tool in two forms of cicatricial alopecia, namely LPP and folliculitis decalvans. 23 , 24 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography: Characteristic hints for the diagnosis of scarring alopecia due to lupus erythematodes: A preliminary study

Nutz,

Deußing,

Hartmann

et al. 2024

Skin Research and Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 It also allows visualization of the upper portion of the hair follicle (infundibulum) that contains the hair shaft [Figure 1A,B ]. LC‐OCT has recently been used for the evaluation of some hair diseases, 6 , 7 and one study only was done on AA for the monitoring of therapeutic response. 8 …”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Alopecia areata: Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography features and dermoscopy correlation

Lacarrubba,

Verzì,

Dall'Oglio

et al. 2024

Skin Research and Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To the Editor, Alopecia areata (AA) is a common non-scarring disorder characterized by well-circumscribed focal patches of hair loss with an acute or chronic course that can progress to affect all scalp and body hairs. Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) is a non-invasive technique that provides high-resolution, vertical, and horizontal in vivo images of the skin with a penetration depth of up to 500 µm. [1][2][3][4][5] It also allows visualization of the upper portion of the hair follicle (infundibulum) that contains the hair shaft [Figure 1A,B].LC-OCT has recently been used for the evaluation of some hair diseases, 6-7 and one study only was done on AA for the monitoring of therapeutic response. 8 The aim of this study was to evaluate by LC-OCT the main dermoscopic findings observed in AA and used to enhance the clinical diagnosis, that is, yellow dots, broken hairs, black dots, exclamation mark hairs, and vellus hairs. 9,10 F I G U R E 1 Normal hair. Vertical (A) and horizontal (B) LC-OCT images show the upper portion of the hair follicle (infundibulum) containing 3 hair shafts (asterisks) with a caliber of 50-60 µm (green bars). The medulla appears high reflective (arrows). Horizontal image (B) is taken at the level of the blue line in A. Insert: dermoscopy of the examined area.

show abstract

Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography in lichen planopilaris and frontal fibrosing alopecia: A pilot study

Nutz,

Deußing,

Hartmann

et al. 2024

J Deutsche Derma Gesell

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryBackground and ObjectivesLichen planopilaris (LPP) and frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) are common causes of cicatricial alopecia. While several studies have demonstrated the usefulness of non‐invasive imaging methods such as reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the diagnosis of scarring alopecia, this study aimed to identify characteristic features of cicatricial alopecia in LPP/FFA using line‐field confocal OCT (LC‐OCT).Patients and MethodsFifty‐one patients (26 LPP, 24 FFA, 1 LPP and FFA) were prospectively analyzed with LC‐OCT at three defined locations on the scalp: (1) scarring area = lesion, (2) scar‐hair boundary = transition zone and (3) healthy area for the presence of the following pre‐defined criteria: no hair follicles left, destructed hair follicles, dermal sclerosis, no rimming of the dermal papillae, epidermal and dermal inflammatory infiltrate, infundibular hyperkeratosis, dilated blood vessels, hypervascularization, melanophages, epidermal pigment incontinence.ResultsComparison of the transition zone with healthy control sites revealed the four main LC‐OCT features in LPP/FFA: dermal sclerosis (100%), dermal inflammatory infiltrate (90.2%), infundibular hyperkeratosis (60.8%) and hypervascularization (76.5%).ConclusionsLC‐OCT detects specific criteria of pathological changes in LPP/FFA around hair follicles in the epidermis and dermis and therefore can be used for further studies investigating scarring alopecia.

show abstract

Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography: A new diagnostic method of lichen planopilaris

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography: Characteristic hints for the diagnosis of scarring alopecia due to lupus erythematodes: A preliminary study

Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography: Characteristic hints for the diagnosis of scarring alopecia due to lupus erythematodes: A preliminary study

Alopecia areata: Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography features and dermoscopy correlation

Line‐field confocal optical coherence tomography in lichen planopilaris and frontal fibrosing alopecia: A pilot study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About