Hypotrichosis affect individuals starting from birth and last all throughout their lifetime. A greater part of all the cases of congenital hyptrichosis may be attributed to genetic abnormalities or defects in the embryo that occur during development.

Man’s understanding of hypotrichosis has increased over the years, however, there is still little known about the treatment for this kind of condition. Nearly all cases of hypotrichosis have no known treatments.

There are numerous types of genetic hypotrichoses. Most of the time, individuals who are affected by hypotrichosis also have other mental and physical disabilities and conditions like Graham-Little syndrome, Ofuji syndrome, Jeanselme and Rime hypotrichosis, Marie Unna hypotrichosis, cartilage-hair hypoplasia, and metaphyseal chondrodysplasia. Some of the more common types of hypotrichosis are:

• Congenital Aplasia

Congenital Aplasia, also known as Aplasia cutis congenital, is a defect where the skin of an individual does not fully develop while the embryo is in the development stage. This may sometimes happen while the baby is still inside the womb and all that is noticeable at birth is a patch of skin where no hair grows.

A baby affected by this disease may be born with a patch of skin much like an open wound. This defect normally occurs at the back area of the scalp near the center of the hair growth known as the whorl pattern.

If the defective skin covers only a small area, the skin will usually scab and the baby may be left with a scar; however, if the defective skin covers a larger area, an operation may be required to remove the affected skin.

• Triangular alopecia

Alopecia triangularis, also known as triangular alopecia, is a condition very much alike to congenital aplasia. Noticeable at birth, triangular aplacia shows as a triangular patch of affected skin and hair usually located above the temples.

This triangular patch of skin fails to grow hair, thus the name triangular alopecia. Babies who are born with this condition have bald patches where hair does not grow at all. The area affected by this condition may be removed through surgery or hair follicles may be implanted on to the affected area to promote hair growth.

• Congenital atrichia

Papular atrichia or congenital atrichia are a unique form of hair loss pattern. This condition was determined to be caused by a defect in a single gene. Individuals with this condition are born with hair but lose all of it in their early childhood years. The hair lost due to this condition never grows back. 

Congenital atrichia runs in families and is considered to be a genetic disorder; however, this type of gene defect may also develop in embryos whose parents do not have the condition.