hypertrichosis

Last reviewed 01/2018

Hypertrichosis

• hypertrichosis is the growth of hair on any part of the body, in excess of the amount usually present in persons of the same age, sex and race
  • hypertrichosis lanuginosa may be applied to excessive growth of fetal lanugo hair
    • lanugo type hair is fine, thin, nonpigmented and can reach unusual length (1)
• the condition may be either congenital or acquired
• it should not be confused with hirsutism - androgen pattern of hair growth.
• depending on the extent of distribution, hypertrichosis may be classified into localized and generalized forms (2)

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Reference:

• 1. Slee PH, Verzijlbergen FJ, van Leeuwen JH, van der Waal RI. CASE
• 2. Acquired Hypertrichosis: A Rare Paraneoplastic Syndrome in Various Cancers. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24:523-524 2. Lee HW, Lee MW, Choi JH, Moon KC, Koh JK. Familial anterior cervical hypertrichosis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2005;53:529-531