Consensus Statement Supported by NAAF Through Student Internship Award Recipient New international expert consensus recommendations provide healthcare providers with practical guidance on the use of low-dose oral minoxidil (LDOM) for children younger than 12 with hair disorders, including alopecia areata (AA). The newly developed consensus statement published online in today’s JAMA Dermatology addresses an important gap in pediatric hair-loss care. While low-dose oral minoxidil is increasingly used to promote hair growth, standardized guidance for its use in younger children has been limited. The recommendations were developed through a modified Delphi process involving experts in pediatric hair disorders from nine countries. The work was supported by NAAF through a Student Internship Award grant awarded to Yagiz Matthew Akiska, MD, MPH* during his time at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Fifty experts participated in the consensus process, ultimately reaching agreement on 84 recommendations addressing topics such as appropriate candidates for treatment, dosing, safety screening, monitoring, side effects, and follow-up. Among the findings, experts agreed that low-dose oral minoxidil may be considered for children ages 4 to younger than 12 with several types of hair disorders. For children with alopecia areata, LDOM may be used to promote hair growth and may be used alongside treatments that address the underlying autoimmune disease, including JAK inhibitors and corticosteroids. The publication notes that, importantly, the recommendations are based on expert consensus and should not be interpreted as evidence that oral minoxidil is effective for pediatric alopecia areata or as establishing its long-term safety. Randomized clinical trials of LDOM in children younger than 12 are still needed. The new recommendations give clinicians who choose to prescribe low-dose oral minoxidil to younger children a more consistent framework for discussing dosing, safety, monitoring, and expectations with families, while also highlighting the need for continued research into the effectiveness and long-term safety of LDOM in pediatric patients. *NAAF had no role in the study design or conduct, data collection or analysis, manuscript preparation or approval, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Read the Q&A with NAAF Student Internship Award recipient and one of the publication’s authors, Matt Akiska, MD, MPH
