Introduction The use of steroids in treating various types of alopecia dates back to 1952 when Dillaha and Rothman1 reported that 3 out of 4 patients with alopecia areata of 5 or more years' duration responded to oral treatment with cortisone acetate. In these patients hair regrowth started after 4 weeks of therapy. The same authors2 subsequently treated a series of 22 patients with alopecia totalis or universalis, and reported a patchy regrowth of hair in 16 patients. Rony and Cohen3 found that hydrocortisone acetate injected intradermally into the forearm of a patient with alopecia universalis produced local regrowth of hair within 4 weeks. Inunction of hydrocortisone acetate into sites of alopecia areata, performed by Sulzberger, Witten, and Smith,4 failed to produce hair regrowth. Many other workers have used steroids, particularly corticosteroids, orally, parenterally, and locally, in treating alopecia areata. It is the object of this