Formaldehyde in Alopecia Areata.

The case of a young girl is recorded, with a circular patch three inches in diameter on the scalp at the side of the occiput, hairless, smooth, and shining. The treatment consisted in painting it with a 20 per cent solution of formaldehyde. This was done every day for the first week or two, until signs of inflammatory reaction appeared.

The treatment was then suspended, and a sedative ointment applied. When the inflammation subsided the formaldehyde was again continued, stopping the application as soon as inflammatory trouble appeared.

This routine of treatment was persevered in for about six or nine months. About this time a growth of hair made its appearance, continued to grow, and in every way corresponded with the surrounding hair. One year after cessation of treatment the growth of hair was continuing in a perfectly normal way.—British Med. Jour.

Ellingwood's Therapeutist, Vol. 2, 1908, was edited by Finley Ellingwood M.D.