What are the characteristic hair changes in thallium poisoning?
Examination of the hair by dermoscopy and polarized light microscope (dermoscopic trichogram) may show a characteristic dystrophic anagen hair with dark pigmentation in the hair bulb, disorganized cortex and intermittent dark transverse bands in the hair shaft as a result of the accumulation of gaseous inclusions that diffract the light (Anagen effluvium).
1.Moeschlin S. Thallium poisoning. Clin Toxicol. 1980 Aug;17(1):133-46. doi: 10.3109/15563658008985073. PMID: 7408429. 2. Curto-Barredo L, Segura S, Martín-Ezquerra G, Lloveras B, Gallardo F, Pujol RM. Anagen effluvium due to thallium poisoning derived from the intake of Chinese herbal medicine and rodenticide containing thallium salts. J Dermatol. 2015 Oct;42(10):1027-9. doi: 10.1111/1346-8138.12997. Epub 2015 Jun 24. PMID: 26104137.