Pathologic Dynamics of Human Hair Loss

To the Editor:— In the February issue of theArchives, A. Kligman, in his paper, Pathologic Dynamics of Human Hair Loss, has misquoted Lynfield and me ( J. Invest. Derm. 33: 371, 1959) as having concluded that colchicine precipitates telogen effluvium rather than anagen hair loss. Since the author mentions this paper largely to show that observer would ever confuse these two starkly contrasting situations (of hair loss), I would like the opportunity to state the facts established in our report, facts which no intelligent reader would have misinterpreted or misquoted out of context. First, we are obviously quite aware that colchicine induces anagen hair loss. Our studies in rats and mice described in the same paper Kligman refers to represent the first detailed experimental work showing anagen effluvium from this drug. Secondly, in regard to the patients described in the same paper, Kligman has stated that our finding