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Hypertrichosis

  • Chapter
Hair Growth and Disorders

Abstract

• Hypertrichosis is the growth of hair of an excessive amount and thickness on any part of the body.

• The term is frequently confused with hirsutism, which should only be applied to women with an excessive development of hair with a male pattern distribution.

• Hypertrichosis is classified in generalized, localized, or symptomatic. All types can also be classified according to the age of onset as congenital or acquired.

• Generalized, symptomatic, and localized forms of congenital hypertrichosis are present in several genodermatoses. Localized forms may also appear in relation to underlying hamartomas.

• Generalized acquired hypertrichosis may be a paraneoplastic syndrome, such as acquired hypertrichosis lanuginosa; it may be localized, the result of association with abnormalities of the fat, muscle, bone or of the underlying hemodynamic system; or it may be related to multiple direct cutaneous traumas.

• The most frequent acquired symptomatic forms of hypertrichosis are iatrogenic.

• Long-term removal of unwanted hair is the objective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, 41009, Sevilla, Spain

    Francisco M. Camacho-Martίnez

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  1. Francisco M. Camacho-Martίnez
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Physiology (CRC), Charité -Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 11017 , Berlin, Germany

    Ulrike Blume-Peytavi

  2. Department of Dermatology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti, 1, 40138 , Bologna, Italy

    Antonella Tosti

  3. Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zürich, Gloriastrasse 31, 8091 , Zürich, Switzerland

    Ralph M. Trüeb

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Camacho-Martίnez, F. (2008). Hypertrichosis. In: Blume-Peytavi, U., Tosti, A., Trüeb, R. (eds) Hair Growth and Disorders. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-46911-7_16

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