The Ludwig pattern of androgenetic alopecia is due to a hierarchy of androgen sensitivity within follicular units that leads to selective miniaturization and a reduction in the number of terminal hairs per follicular unit

Abstract

Background: Hair follicles exist within follicular units (FUs). In utero the central primary hair follicles are surrounded by smaller secondary follicles. Each FU is nourished by a single arborizing arrector pili muscle that attaches circumferentially around the primary follicle with variable attachment to other follicles. Androgenetic alopecia (AA) miniaturizes susceptible scalp hair follicles in a distinctive and reproducible fashion manifesting in different patterns between men and women. Objectives: We hypothesized that there is an additional layer to the patterning in AA, with a hierarchy of susceptibility within FUs to AA, and that the diffuse hair loss seen in women with AA is due to ..