Comparative study of intralesional steroid versus intralesional vitamin D3 in patients with alopecia areata

Background and objective: Alopecia areata is a non-scarring type of patchy hair loss accompanied by profound psychological distress. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of intralesional triamcinolone acetonide against intralesional vitamin D3 injection in treating alopecia areata. Methods: This interventional therapeutic study was conducted on 40 adult patients who were divided into two groups. For a maximum of three sessions, 20 patients in Group I received intralesional injections of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol aqueous preparation 100 000 IU/2 ml) every three weeks. Twenty patients in Group II underwent three sessions of intralesional injections of triamcinolone acetonide every three weeks. Clinical assessments were conducted both at baseline and following each session. Results: The largest proportion of the sample (42.5%) were aged 20-29 years, more than two-thirds of the patients (67.5%) were males, about 2.5% of the patients had thyroid disease and 2.5% had atopy. In both groups there was significant increase in McDonald’s score, (P <0.001). After receiving three sessions, more than half (55%) of the steroid group had terminal regrowth in all areas, compared with 25% in the Vitamin D3 group. The difference was close to the level of significance (P = 0.063). No significant association was detected between the terminal regrowth on the third session with the following variables: number of patches (P = 0.783), size of the patch (P = 0.152), area (P = 0.319), in both groups Conclusion: For patchy alopecia areata, both intralesional steroid and intralesional vitamin D3 are easy, safe, and affordable treatment options.