Objective To observe the curative effect of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine therapy in the treatment of severe alopecia areata under dermoscopy.Methods The study was performed by selecting 105 patients with severe alopecia areata in one of Xiangyang hospitals from Feb.2012 to Feb.2015.Patients were randomized into observation group（n=53）and control group（n=52）.The control group was treated with routine Western medicine and the observation group was treated with traditional Chinese medicine on the basis of Western medicine.Total curative rate

serum cytokine before and after the treatment（IFN-γ

IL-2

IL-4

IL-10）

time of new hair growth

density of hair before and after the treatment

incidence of adverse reactions and recurrence rate during the half-year follow-up period were compared between the two groups.Results The total effective rate of the observation group（86.8%）was higher than that of the control group（67.3%）（P<0.05）.There were no significant differences between serum cytokines

such as IFN-γ

IL-2

IL-4and IL-10 before treatment for both groups.After treatment

level of IFN-γand IL-2decreased

while level of IL-4and IL-10 increased.Comparing with the results before treatment

the differences manifested to be statistically significant（P<0.05）.Meanwhile

the level of IFN-γand IL-2after treatment of observation group was lower than that of control group

and vice versa in terms of IL-4and IL-10（P<0.05）.Density of hair after 4weeks

8weeks and 12 weeks treatment of observation group was higher than that of control group（P<0.05）

and time of new hair growth was significantly shorter than that of the control group（P<0.05）.The incidence of adverse reactions of the two groups were 7.6% and 5.7%

respectively（P>0.05）.The recurrence rate of the observation group（11.3%）was lower than that of the control group（26.9%）（P<0.05）.Conclusion The clinical effect of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine therapy in the treatment of severe alopecia areata is obvious

manifesting in alleviating the symptoms of hair loss and promoting new hair growth quickly.Therefore

the treatment is reliable to be popularized.