Journal of Neonatal Studies

Neonatal Occipital Alopecia Top Journals

 The etiology of neonatal occipital alopecia has been thought to be friction. It is recently clear that NOA is related to the physiological hair shedding.The pregnancy-related factors, such as non-elderly gravida, non-Caesarean-section delivery, and enough gestational age, were associated with NOA. Tthe recent theory that neonatal occipital alopecia is not an acquired alopecia, but a physiological condition, resulting from synchronized shedding of telogen hairs initiated in utero. Transient neonatal hair loss typically occurs 8-12 weeks after birth. However, neonates can be born with this localized alopecia. Darkly pigmented neonates are born with more hairs in anagen, and the conversion to telogen is delayed compared to lighter-skinned neonates. Consequently, transient neonatal hair loss occurs later in more darkly pigmented neonates. The hair loss typically presents as a well-demarcated patch of non-scarring alopecia, most commonly in the occipital area, although parietal involvement is occasionally seen. In the past, the occipital hair loss of the infant was commonly suspected to be due to the friction between the pillow and the scalp. Accordingly, there were many instances when infants were laid on their face, and these situations resulted in increased possibility for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Given this background, in 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that infants should sleep in a supine position, rather than a prone position, to reduce the occurrence of SIDS9,10. Cutrone and Grimalt1 examined the prevalence of NOA prior to and following the AAP guidelines, and suggested that there was no significant correlation between the sleeping position of infants and the occurrence of NOA. These results seem to be supported by our data showing that the incidence rates of NOA were higher, but not statistically significantly different in the group of infants sleeping in the supine position.

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