Trichoscopy of the Beard: Aid Tool for Diagnosis of Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia in Men

The document presents a case of a 58-year-old man with a 5-year history of progressive alopecia, diagnosed as frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA), a scarring alopecia characterized by the recession of the frontal hairline and sometimes body hair loss. The diagnosis was confirmed through an incisional biopsy from the scalp showing perifollicular inflammation in a lichenoid pattern. The authors propose trichoscopic examination of the beard as a helpful tool for diagnosing FFA in men, as it can reveal loss of follicular openings, perifollicular erythema and scaling, pinpoint white and yellow dots, milky reddish areas, honeycomb pattern, and vessels. This is particularly useful as FFA's lower incidence in men and similar clinical features with androgenetic alopecia can make differential diagnosis challenging.