The diagnosis of excess body hair or scalp loss is based purely on the patient’s history
and clinical examination. The purpose of investigation is to obtain further information
necessary for management of the patient and not to confirm the diagnosis of hirsuties
or androgenic alopecia. Treatment decisions should be made on the severity of hair
growth for which several scoring systems have been described.
1
The underlying cause is likely to be polycystic ovaries (PCO) in the vast majority
of hirsute women, and investigation should be used to identify the few women with
other causes, as treatment is aimed at altering hair growth and not at modifying minor
abnormalities in circulating hormone concentrations.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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© 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
