Up to 8% of dermatological patients visit doctors about hair loss. Among the causes of hair loss, cicatricial alopecia (CA) represents a challenging diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. CA includes a group of diseases in which the common end result is the destruction of the hair follicle, which is replaced by connective tissue. The irreversibility of hair loss and the associated adverse cosmetic consequences of CA require special attention to their timely diagnosis. There are primary and secondary CAs. Primary CA is characterized by a folli-culocentric inflammatory process, which leads to the destruction of the hair follicle; in secondary RA, the hair follicle is indirectly affected along with other skin structures. The proportion of primary RA, which represents the greatest difficulty in diagnostic and therapeutic terms, accounts for 3–7%. Diagnosis of the disease that caused primary CA is based on a careful collection of the patient’s medical history, clinical examination, dermoscopic (trichoscopic) data and the results of a biopsy of the scalp, which is a necessary condition for prescribing appropriate therapy. The article presents literature data on the classification, diagnosis and treatment of various types of CA.

Keywords: hair transplantation, trichoscopy, secondary cicatricial alopecia, primary cicatricial alopecia, cicatricial alopecia, biopsy, treatment