Comment on ‘Clinicopathological features and treatment outcomes of fibrosing alopecia in a pattern distribution: a multicentre cohort study’: Does observed stabilization necessarily reflect disease control?

In this correspondence, we discuss interpretative challenges arising from the recent multicentre cohort study of fibrosing alopecia in a pattern distribution (FAPD). We argue that observed disease stabilization in a diagnostically heterogeneous retrospective cohort may not necessarily reflect durable disease control and that unresolved boundaries between FAPD, lichen planopilaris and inflammatory androgenetic alopecia may constrain therapeutic interpretation. Future studies with standardized diagnostic criteria and treatment protocols are warranted.