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Spironolactone is an Effective and Well Tolerated Systemic Antiandrogen Therapy for Hirsute Women^*

JULIAN H. BARTH, CHRISTINE A. CHERRY, FENELLA WOJNAROWSKA and RODNEY P. R. DAWBER

Department of Dermatology, Slade Hospital Headington, Oxford 0X3 7JH, United Kingdom

We treated 22 hirsute women with spironolactone in an open trial to determine whether it caused objective changes in hair growth. Among them, 18 women completed 12 months therapy with 200 mg spironolactone daily. During this period, the mean daily linear growth rates of hair on the face, abdomen, and thigh were reduced to 66% (P < 0.001), 75% (P < 0.01), and 72% (P < 0.001) of their pretreatment values. The mean hair shaft diameters were reduced to 83% (P < 0.01) on the face, 88% (P < 0.001) on the arm, 74% (P < 0.01) on the abdomen, and 80% (P < 0.001) on the thigh. Daily hair volume production was calculated from the diameter and daily growth rate; it was reduced to 60% (P < 0.01) on the face, 52% (P < 0.01) on the arm, 34% (P < 0.001) on the abdomen, and 48% (P < 0.001) on the thigh. Six of the 18 women who completed the study developed midcycle vaginal bleeding, and 3 women had previously irregular menstrual cycles regulated. We conclude that spironolactone is effective and well tolerated for hirsute women.

^* This paper was presented in part at the Annual Meeting of the British Association of Dermatologists, July 1988.

Holder of the British Association of Dermatologists Research Fellowship. To whom all correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed.

Received August 22, 1988.

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