El-Zawahry Bakr Mohamed, El Hanafy Mervat, Bassiouny Dalia Ahmed, Fawzy Marwa Mohamed, Abdel-Mageed Badawy Manal, El-Khateeb Eman Mohamed
Dalia Ahmed Bassiouny, MD, 51 B Damascus Street, Mohandessien, Cairo, Egypt;
Acta Dermatovenerol Croat. 2015;23(1):12-8.
Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in examination of several skin diseases but never in imaging hair and scalp diseases. Main objective of this investigation was assessment of the efficacy of UBM for in vivo visualization of hair follicles in cases of alopecia areata (AA) and correlation of findings with histopathological findings. This study included 30 patients with AA. Two areas, one with AA and a control area, were marked, examined by UBM and then biopsied for histopathological examination. In patients with alopecia totalis (AT) or universalis (AU) only an AA area was examined. Non-echogenic conical shadows reaching the epidermal entrance echo (probably corresponding to the hair follicles) were seen and were wider and fewer in number in areas of AA than in normal control areas. No significant difference was found regarding number and width of hair follicles between UBM and histopathological examination. However, a significant increase in length of follicles in histopathology was detected, indicating that the UBM image was probably unable to reach the deepest part of the follicle. Main limitation of the study is small number of cases. No significant difference was found between UBM and histological measurements of hair follicle number and width in patients with AA, making UBM a useful tool for in vivo visualization of hair follicles.
超声生物显微镜检查（UBM）是一种非侵入性成像技术，用于检查多种皮肤疾病，但从未用于毛发和头皮疾病的成像。本研究的主要目的是评估UBM在斑秃（AA）病例中对毛囊进行体内可视化的效果，以及研究结果与组织病理学结果的相关性。本研究纳入了30例AA患者。标记两个区域，一个为AA区域，另一个为对照区域，先用UBM检查，然后进行活检以进行组织病理学检查。对于全秃（AT）或普秃（AU）患者，仅检查一个AA区域。观察到到达表皮入口回声的无回声锥形阴影（可能对应于毛囊），且AA区域的此类阴影比正常对照区域更宽、数量更少。在毛囊数量和宽度方面，UBM检查与组织病理学检查之间未发现显著差异。然而，组织病理学检查发现毛囊长度显著增加，这表明UBM图像可能无法到达毛囊的最深处。本研究的主要局限性是病例数量较少。在AA患者中，UBM与毛囊数量和宽度的组织学测量结果之间未发现显著差异，这使得UBM成为毛囊体内可视化的有用工具。
