A 53-year-old man presented to our hospital with alopecia. He had started taking rosuvastatin for hyperlipidemia and developed hair loss one week later. His hair loss persisted (Picture 1, after 10 days of administration), so he self-discontinued rosuvastatin two weeks after initiating the medication. One to two weeks after cessation, the patient noticed hair regrowth. Rosuvastatin was replaced with ezetimibe, and no further hair loss subsequently occurred (Picture 2, after complete recovery).
Picture 1.
Picture 2.
Statin-associated alopecia has been anecdotally reported. While relatively large cohort studies have found no significant association between alopecia and statin use (1), cases of statin-associated alopecia in middle-aged and elderly women have been reported previously (2). Alopecia is listed as a side effect of unknown frequency or ＜1% in the Japanese package inserts for other statins, including atorvastatin, pitavastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, and fluvastatin, although no such warning is listed for rosuvastatin. Clinicians should be aware of alopecia as a rare side effect of statins, including rosuvastatin.
The authors state that they have no Conflict of Interest (COI).
References
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