Accutane Now Lists Hair Loss As a Side Effect?

My 17 year old brother has had rapid hair loss for over a year now. Mainly on the top of his head & now the hairline is receding as well. There is no male pattern baldness on either sides of the family. We have taken him to several specialist & have had all possible bloodwork & even a scalp biopsy done. He has finally been diagnosed w/ Chronic Telogen Effluvium. He has C3 & Igg deposits in his follicular bulbs. There are an increased number of catagen & telogen follicles accompanied by shriveled, wrinkled, glassy membranes & fibrous tracts. The lower follicular epithelium is visibly in necrosis in some slide levels. There are few inflammatory cells. It is believed that the cause of the TE is medicine induced from Accutane. He has been off the medicine for one year & has continued to have hair loss & no re-growth. Accutane is now listing hair loss that may be permanent as one of it’s side effects due to the overwhelming amount of cases of this. Some people have had regrowth well others have not. Since it has been over a year & based on the diagnosis, is regrowth still possible? Will he go completely bald? Would he still be a candidate for a hair transplant down the road? What are the possible treatments for him? He has already tried Rogaine, Tagament, & the laser comb. He is devastated & is becoming more & more depressed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I can not fully answer this question, but I’ll do my best. For people with chronic telogen effluvium (TE), long term use of minoxidil may help. The good news is the chronic TE implies that the hair is still there, unlike in the case of genetic hair loss. As I am not a dermatologist and have limited understanding of chronic TE, your brother will be best served by someone with expertise in this field and a track record for it. Good luck to your brother and thanks for sharing this with us.