PHABMACOLOGY OF THALLITTM 
11 
AS A DEPELATORT 
Thallium preparations have been used more or less empirically to 
remove hair in the treatment of alopecia areata and of ringworm. 
It is not certain who introduced this method of treatment. Olmer 
and Tian's {lllf) patient developed profuse diffuse alopecia after the 
application of a thallium paste to the chest. Sabouraud {130) 
recommended an ointment containing 1 per cent of thallium acetate 
as a depilatory, but stated that quantities in excess of 300 milligrams 
of the salt produced toxic effects. Pohlmann {120) confirmed the 
central action of thallium in producing alopecia, and showed 
spectroscopically that it was eliminated by the kidneys. A sym- 
posium of the toxic effects of thallium was reported in Spain with 
the conclusion that the acetate was more potent than the sulphate 
{132). Buschke and Peiser {31) and Sabouraud {130) recommended 
the use of 3 grams of a 1 per cent salve of thallium salt as a 
depilatory. 
Clinical reports of the use of thallium salts, more especially as 
depilatories, have been given in the literature of many countries 
(i, 2, 6, 47, 56, 69, 65, 7i, 96, 97, 98, 112, 116, 118, 119, 127, U3. U8). 
The present status of thallium therapy is well summarized in a 
" Miscellany " report in the Journal of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation (i) and in a subsequent editorial in the British Medical 
Journal in 1929 {2). Apparentlv thallium was used systematically 
in Mexico in 1918 on account oi the shortage in X-ray tubes {2). 
Cicero {Ifl) found that 5 milligrams per kilo was too small a dose 
for satisfactory results and used 8 milligrams per kilo without seri- 
ous complications. 
Thallium was not so favorably received in England, perhaps on 
account of the lack of success m the treatment of the particular 
ringworm that occurred there. The doses, reactions, and cures in 
this series of clinical reports are given in Table 2. Thallium ace- 
tate was used in each instance. 
Careful attention must be given to body weight and doses : Eight 
milligrams per kilo are necessary for successful depiktion, smaller 
doses being only partially effective. Serious reactions have fol- 
lowed doses as small as 4 milligrams per kilo ; adults are much more 
susceptible than children, as 8 milligrams per kilo have been toxic. 
The maximal dose for any patient should not exceed 300 milligrams, 
irrespective of the body weight. Special attention is called to the 
contra-indication of thallium in any cases of albuminuria or kidney 
involvement. Treatment should not be repeated until all the 
thallium from the preceding course of medication has been elimi- 
nated (two to three months). It is also emphasized that these 
treatments should be under the care and observation of a physician. 
