Focal and diffuse fibrosing alopecias: Classical lichen planopilaris, frontal fibrosing alopecia, fibrosing alopecia with a pattern distribution, cicatricial pattern hair loss, and lichen planopilaris diffuse pattern

Abstract

There is considerable clinical and histologic overlap between frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA), lichen planopilaris (LPP), fibrosing alopecia with a pattern distribution (FAPD), cicatricial pattern hair loss (CPHL), and lichen planopilaris with a diffuse pattern (LPPDP). Each of these entities may show interface dermatitis involving follicular epithelium and concentric fibrosing around the isthmus and infundibulum, and we favor the term fibrosing alopecia to refer to these entities as a group.1-3Here we describe 5 patients with focal and diffuse fibrosing alopecia with overlapping features and a slowly progressive course lending further support to the concept that these diseases exist along a spectrum.