Comparision of treatment outcomes among patients with Alopecia Areata, Alopecia Totalis and Alopecia Universalis with DPCP and SADBE

INTRODUCTION: Alopecia areata is a common hair disorder which is significantly affecting life quality of patients. There are several treatment modalities with variable response.
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 213 patients who received topical immunotherapy treatment in our clinic between 2014 and 2019.
RESULTS: There were no significant difference in response rates in the two treatment types in women (p=0,120). The total response rate of the patients treated with SADBE was 42.9% (30/70) and the total response rate of the patients treated with DPCP was significantly higher than 19.2% (10/52) (p=0.023). The mean age (9.73 years) of those who received full response from SADBE treatment was significantly lower than the mean age (12.65 year) of those who received full response from DPCP treatment (p = 0.003). In all response cases, there was no significant difference between both treatment types and disease duration. Considering all the data, 1 month increase in the disease duration caused 1% worse response to the treatment (Wald = 8.97, p = 0.003). Considering all the data, 1 month increase in the treatment period caused 1.04% better response to the treatment (Wald = 9.79, p = 0.002). Those with a pre-treatment loss of less than 25% were found to be 7.5 times better than those with a pre-treatment loss of 100% (Wald = 19.37 p <0.001). Considering all the data, the patients who received SADBE treatment received 2 times better response to treatment than those who received DPCP treatment (Wald = 8,875 p = 0,003).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we think that topical immunotherapy is an important form of treatment in alopecia areata and more studies are needed.