Hair follicle counts in Thai population: a study on the vertex scalp area.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional post-mortem study compared with historical literature controls
What was done
Evaluated scalp hair follicle density from 20 autopsy cases with clinically normal scalps at a forensic medicine department in Siriraj Hospital, Thailand. A 4-mm punch biopsy was obtained from the vertex scalp of each cadaver, horizontally bisected 1 mm below the skin surface, and examined with hematoxylin-eosin staining. Total hair follicles, hair cycle phase, terminal hairs, intermediate hairs, vellus hairs, and follicular units were quantified and compared with previously published data from Caucasian, African-American, and Korean cohorts.
What was found
Across the 20 cases, mean counts per 4-mm punch biopsy were: - Total hair follicles: 28.3 +/- 9.2 - Terminal hair follicles: 16.5 +/- 8.4 - Intermediate hair follicles: 5.0 +/- 4.6 - Vellus hair follicles: 6.9 +/- 7.0 Hair follicle density was statistically lower than reported in Caucasians (p = 0.002), but higher than reported in African-Americans (p = 0.004) and Koreans (p < 0.001).
Why it matters
Provides baseline normative hair follicle density values for the Thai population to prevent diagnostic misinterpretation during scalp biopsy evaluations for alopecia.
Limits
Small sample size (n = 20) limited to autopsy cases from a single center. Ethnic group comparisons relied on historical published literature rather than direct concurrent controls, and age or sex breakdown was not reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports The human scalp contains approximately 70,000 to 100,000 hair follicles on average.