Headington and Astle (1987) described a 14-year-old girl and her mother who had patchy hair loss present from early childhood. When studied in transverse section, biopsy specimens from both women showed marked anagen-telogen transformation that appeared to be ... Headington and Astle (1987) described a 14-year-old girl and her mother who had patchy hair loss present from early childhood. When studied in transverse section, biopsy specimens from both women showed marked anagen-telogen transformation that appeared to be irreversible. Preservation of telogen epithelium with absence of inflammation and scarring distinguished familial focal alopecia from pseudopelade (alopecia cicatrisata) and from localized alopecia areata (see 104000). They could find no description of similar cases. 'Anagen' refers to the growth phase of the cycle of activity of the hair follicle. 'Telogen' refers to the resting phase of the cycle of activity of the hair follicle. 'Catagen' refers to the involutional phase of the cycle of activity of the hair follicle. (VAM)