[Spun glass hair (author's transl)].

A 5-year-old girl with the characteristic clinical picture of "spun glass hair" is described; additionally she suffers from atopic dermatitis. This case is of special interest since the child not only suffers also from endogenic eczema, but that another member of the family (child's aunt) also suffers from the same hair anomaly. The diagnosis is based upon the clinical symptom that the hair cannot be managed, and is proved by observation of triangular and kidney-shaped cross-sections taken from the child's hair. Electron scan microscopic examination of the hair revealed grooves on the surface of the hair which exhibit similarity to the hair-condition pili canaliculi. The following physical properties of these irregularly shaped hairs were measured: Fibre thickness, tensile strength, extent of fibre expansion shortly before breakage, and form elasticity. None of these properties were found to differ from those of normal hair.