Loose anagen syndrome, also known as loose anagen hair syndrome, is a hair disorder related to dermatology. It is characterised by the easy and pain free detachment of anagen staged hairs from the scalp. This hair condition can be spontaneous or genetically inherited.Loose anagen syndrome is primarily described in fair-haired children who have easily dislodgeable hair. : 641  It is commonly present in younger children, generally between the ages of 2 to 8. It is especially observed in female children with light coloured hair. Females and males have differences in hair. There are knowledge gaps about loose anagen syndrome in males, and a 6 to 1 incidence ratio of females to males with loose anagen syndrome, respectively. Loose anagen syndrome may also be misdiagnosed in males, as males traditionally have short hair.Patients with loose anagen hair syndrome usually experience hair thinning around the whole scalp or at the occipital scalp, at the back of the head. Although this is a hair condition, there have only been reports of this condition also affecting the patients eyebrows. There are no noted impacts on any other hairs of the body such as eyebrows and eyelashes. It also does not have any impacts on nails, teeth or skin.Loose anagen syndrome is more predominantly seen in fairer skin and it is not as common in dark skin populations. Abdel-Raouf, El-Din, Awad, Ashraf, Mohammad, Hosan, Hasan, Moetaz, Tag and Mohammad have reported a population of dark skinned individuals with loose anagen syndrome.
A difference between these two hair disorders is that in loose anagen syndrome there are dystrophic hairs which are absent in patients with short anagen syndrome.Patients with loose anagen syndrome may experience the thinning of their hair which is also a factor of alopecia areata. In order to distinguish between these two conditions, if dots, hairs with tapered roots or vellus hairs are visible in a microscopic examination of the skin this will lead to the diagnosis of alopecia areta rather than loose anagen syndrome.Hair loss can lead to other symptoms and signs such as weight loss, behavioural changes, short temper, abdominal pain and problems with learning. These signs are also observed in children with toxic ingestion which is one of the differential diagnosis.A pull test is also used in the diagnosis of telogen effluvium. The hairs that are removed in a telogen effluvium pull test are telogen staged hairs instead of being at the anagen stage as seen in loose anagen hair syndrome. Associated conditions
Loose anagen syndrome usually appears as an individual condition. Loose anagen syndrome can be present with other conditions related to genetics or developmental conditions. Examples of these conditions include; Coloboma, Noonan syndrome, Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, EEC (ectrodactyly- ectodermal dysplasia-clefting) syndrome, Neurofibromatosis, Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome, Trichotillomania, Nail-patella syndrome and Woolly hair. Loose anagen hair syndrome has also been associated with AIDS.Alopecia areata patients can also develop loose anagen syndrome. Treatment
Loose anagen syndrome usually does not need treatment as this hair condition tends to improve with age and is self-limited.