Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Alopecia areata with lymphocytic mural folliculitis affecting the isthmus in a thoroughbred mare.
- Journal:
- Veterinary dermatology
- Year:
- 2004
- Authors:
- Colombo, Silvia et al.
- Affiliation:
- Hospital for Small Animals · United Kingdom
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old thoroughbred mare had been dealing with hair loss for eight years, which was not inflamed, and for the last three months, she also had redness and scaling on the white star on her forehead and muzzle. A biopsy, which is a test where small samples of tissue are taken for examination, showed that her hair follicles were affected by a type of immune response called lymphocytic inflammation, leading to a diagnosis of alopecia areata (a condition that causes hair loss). The biopsy from her forehead revealed that the hair follicles were not developing properly, and the immune cells were present in an unusual pattern. This case highlights a unique variation in how alopecia areata can appear in horses. The treatment details and outcome were not provided in the abstract.
Abstract
A 13-year-old, thoroughbred mare was presented with an 8-year history of multifocal, generalized, noninflammatory alopecia and a 3-month history of alopecia, erythema and scaling of the white star on the forehead and muzzle. Histopathological examination of biopsy samples from multiple sites on the body (mane, neck, shoulder, flank and gluteal region) showed a subtle lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate affecting and surrounding the anagen hair bulbs, consistent with a diagnosis of alopecia areata. The biopsy sample from the star on the forehead showed atrophic hair follicles with perifollicular and mural mononuclear folliculitis affecting the isthmus. Immunohistochemical staining with a CD3 marker confirmed the T-lymphocytic origin of the inflammatory infiltrate in all the samples. The concurrent presence of lymphocytic infiltration at the bulbar and isthmic level of the hair follicles in the same horse is unusual. This finding may represent a variation of the histological appearance of alopecia areata.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15305934/