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Background Alopecia areata on the beard area (BAA) is a common clinical manifestation, but there are no studies about its characteristics. Objective To describe the epidemiology, comorbidities, clinical presentation, evolution, diagnostic findings and therapeutic choices in a series of patients with BAA. Methods This retrospective multicentre review included patients diagnosed with BAA as the first and unique clinical manifestation with at least 12 months of follow-up. Diagnosis was performed based on the typical clinical features. Extra-beard involvement was monitored in all cases. Results Overall, 55 male patients with a mean age of 39.1 years (range 20–74) were included. Twenty-five patients (45.5%) developed alopecia of the scalp during follow-up and more than 80% of cases appeared in the first 12.4 months. Clinical presentation of AA on the scalp was patchy AA (less than 5 patches) (52%), multifocal AA (28%), AA totalis (12%) and AA universalis (8%). Multivariate analysis revealed a trend of association between scalp involvement and family history of AA without statistical significance. Conclusions According to this study, BAA may progress to scalp AA in a significant number of patients (45.5% of the patients with a follow-up interval of at least 12 months). In the group of patients who developed scalp AA, 80% of them did it within the first 12 months, so follow-up of patients with BAA is highly encouraged.

Background Folliculitis decalvans (FD) is a rare neutrophilic scarring alopecia that represents a therapeutic challengefor dermatologists.Objective To describe the epidemiology, comorbidities, clinical presentation, diagnostic !ndings and therapeuticoptions in a large series of patients with FD.Methods This retrospective multicentre review includes patients diagnosed with FD based on clinical and histopatho-logic !ndings. The clinical severity was determined by the maximum diameter of the largest alopecic patch (slight

Patch testing is a method for diagnosing allergic contact dermatitis, and the best way to differentiate it from irritant contact dermatitis (1). As part of the Spanish Contact Dermatitis Society baseline series, the thin-layer rapiduse epicutaneous test, known as TRUE Test® (TT), is widely used (2–4). With the aim of studying the diagnostic capacity of expired TRUE Test® panels, a prospective study on consecutive patients attending our occupational dermatology department during February 2013 was conducted. In all patients, three TRUE Tests® with different expiry dates (2011, 2012, and 2013) were applied. Also, according to the clinical history and occupation of each patient, patch testing with a specific series was performed. Patients signed an informed consent form before the study was performed. The patches were removed on D2, and readings were performed on D2 and D3. During the study period, a total of 11 patients were patch tested with three TRUE Tests® with different expiry dates: 2011, 2012, and 2013. In 9 of 11 patients, the same positive reactions, with identical intensities, were observed in the three TRUE Tests® (Fig. 1). In the remaining 2 patients, the same positive reactions were observed in the TRUE Tests® with expiry dates in 2012–2013, and negative results were obtained in the TRUE Test® in with an expiry date in 2011 (Table 1).