Yellow dots

Yellow dots are follicular openings filled with keratin and sebum, seen under dermoscopy or trichoscopy. They are common in alopecia areata but can also be seen in androgenetic alopecia and other scalp disorders. The diagnostic meaning depends on the number, distribution and accompanying findings such as black dots, exclamation mark hairs, miniaturised hairs or loss of follicular openings. Yellow dots are useful as part of a pattern-recognition approach rather than as a stand-alone diagnosis.