Thomas More syndrome.

1916), believed that whitening of hair was related to pigment absorbed and carried away by phagocytes he observed in the vicinity of dystrophic hair follicles and called 'pigmentophages' [9]. In 1981, Guin et al. [10] reported a lady whose hair turned white over 3 months with hair thinning but no patches of alopecia. Immu-nofluorescence studies demonstrated immune deposits along the follicular epithelium suggesting an underlying immunological mechanism. Finally, case reports of sudden canities in association with easily plucked hairs, exclamation mark hairs and patchy alo-pecia typical of alopecia areata [11] , and in coexistence with other presumably autoimmune phenomena, such as vitiligo [12] , support the immune theory. Ultimately, these observations have led some authorities to speculate that the autoimmune target in alo-pecia areata may even be related to the hair follicle melanin pigment system [13]. McBride and Bergfeld [14] described mosaic hair color changes in two patients with extensive alopecia areata and suggested that these processes may result from localized im-munological reactions against hair follicle melanocytes in a mul-Key Words Canities subita ؒ Marie Antoinette ؒ Thomas More 'Canities subita' designates the condition in which scalp hair suddenly turns white [1, 2]. The synonymous term 'Marie Antoi-nette syndrome' has been coined for this disorder, in relation to the account of the ill-fated Queen Marie Antoinette of France (1755–1793), whose hair allegedly turned white the night before her last walk to the guillotine during the French Revolution [3, 4]. Although the actual incidence is probably rare, sudden whitening of the hair has been used as a literary stylistic means to demonstrate extreme psychological stress [5]. The first documented case of sudden hair whitening can be traced back to the Talmud (83 AD), which describes a scholar who was appointed chief of the main Israeli Talmudic academy at the young age of 17 years. Upon his wife's concern that he looked too youthful for the position, he developed 18 rows of white hair [6]. The Jewish rabbi, physician and philosopher Maimonides (1135–1204) suggested that this was the result of strenuous studying. History also records that the hair of the English martyr Sir Thomas More (1478–1535) turned white overnight in the Tower of London before his execution [7] (fig. 1 a, b). Sir Thomas More, also known as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author and statesman who in his lifetime gained a reputation as a leading Renaissance humanist scholar and …