A comparative study of efficacy of minoxidil 2% and hair serum in alopecia areata in a tertiary care center at karaikal, puducherry

Background: Alopecia areata is a unique, idiopathic disease in which there is patchy hair loss. The variable and uncertain natural history of alopecia areata is accounting for the multiplicity of uncritical claims for a large variety of therapeutic procedures.
Aim: To find the therapeutic comparison between hair serum and Minoxidil 2% solution.
Material and Methods: Patients attending skin out patient department in Vinayaka Mission’s medical college & hospital, Karaikal were screened and the consenting cases of Alopecia Areata (AA) from July 2019 to June 2020 were chosen for study. There were 50 patients in the study. It is a randomized, single blind study. The eligible patients for the study were randomly allocated into two groups-Group A and Group B (25 in Group A and 25 in Group B). Patients in Group A were treated with 2% Minoxidil solution to be applied twice daily over the alopecia patch, where as Patients in Group B were treated with hair serum applied twice daily. Patients were followed up at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks. Alopecia Grading Score (AGS) was calculated at baseline and 12 weeks. Regrowth Score (RGS) was calculated at 12 weeks.
Observations: Total 46 patients completed the study (24 in Group A and 22 in Group B). In our study RGS ≥ 3 was observed in 62.7% of patients treated with Minoxidil 2% solution and 42.47% of patients treated with hair serum.
Conclusion: In our study Minoxidil 2% solution had better stimulatory effect on hair growth compared to hair serum in the treatment of mild to moderate patchy alopecia areata. The combination treatment may yield a better clinical response than either of the agents used singly.