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Vitiligo

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Evidence-Based Procedural Dermatology

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Abstract

Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disorder of the skin in which melanocytes are destroyed resulting in patchy areas of skin depigmentation. This disease occurs in approximately 1% of the world’s population without predilection for sex, race, or ethnicity (5) (Ezzedine et al., Lancet 386:74e84, 2015). Vitiligo can be classified into three major categories: segmental vitiligo , which has a unilateral distribution, non-segmental or generalized vitiligo , and mixed vitiligo , which is a combination of the former two (Ezzedine et al., Lancet 386:74e84, 2015). Approximately half of those affected with vitiligo develop their first lesion before the age of 20 (Ezzedine et al., Lancet 386:74e84, 2015). Vitiligo can be disfiguring, especially in dark-skinned individuals, and can have a significant psychological and social impact with major consequences on the quality of life for those affected (4) (Kostopoulou et al., Br J Dermatol 161:128–133, 2009). Other autoimmune disorders, including thyroid disease, pernicious anemia, Addison’s disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and alopecia areata, have been associated with vitiligo (2c) (Alkhateeb et al., Pigment Cell Res 16(3):208–214, 2003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Jorge A. Hinojosa, Andrea Tovar-Garza & Amit G. Pandya

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  1. Jorge A. Hinojosa
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  2. Andrea Tovar-Garza
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  3. Amit G. Pandya
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Correspondence to Amit G. Pandya .

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  1. Department of Dermatology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Murad Alam

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Hinojosa, J.A., Tovar-Garza, A., Pandya, A.G. (2019). Vitiligo. In: Alam, M. (eds) Evidence-Based Procedural Dermatology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02023-1_55

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