Vitiligo | Medtick
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Vitiligo

What is it?

A long term (normally permanent) condition due to lack of melanin in your skin (Melanin is produced by your skin to give someone their skin colour and help us to be protected from the sun’s rays) causing one to have pale white patches of the skin where there is little or no melanin.

It is not infectious and one cannot catch it from someone
  • It is more noticeable in people who are dark or have tanned skin and can affect both sides of the body (bilateral) in same areas or affect one side of body (unilateral) or affect whole body (universal or complete vitiligo).
  • The patches can vary in size, is difficult to predict on how much of the skin affected and at what pace.

There are two types:

Bilateral or generalised vitiligo or non-segmental vitilgo (common):

This type affects both sides of the body, normally progresses more slowly. It occurs mainly on:

  • Arms
  • Back of hands
  • Elbows
  • Eyes
  • Feet
  • Knees

Segmental vitilgo or unilateral vitilgo or localised vitilgo:

  • This type affects one area of the body, normally progresses more quickly and is more common in children.

Other variations

Morphologic variations of vitiligo include the following:

  • Trichrome vitiligo, in which patients have 3 zones of different colours; these range from the central achromic zone, to its surrounding hypochromic zone, to the outermost peripheral normal colored skin zone
  • Quadrichrome vitiligo, in which a fourth dark colour is present in areas undergoing perifollicular hyperpigmentation
  • Pentachrome vitiligo, with 5 zones of different colours
  • Inflammatory vitiligo, in which an erythematous border surrounds the vitiliginous area

Medscape

Diagnosis tests

  • Wood’s lamp examination:
    • Accentuates the ivory or chalk-white coloured vitiliginous depigmented macules and patches, thereby helping to differentiate them from hypopigmented lesions.
    • Useful in revealing the extent of vitiligo in patients with type I and II skin types.
  • Skin biopsy – differentiate vitiligo from hypopigmented lesions because it demonstrates a complete absence of melanocytes in the affected skin.
  • Vitamin B-12 levels and antiparietal cell antibodies tests for associated pernicious anaemia
  • Thyroid function tests and antithyroid antibody testing (anti-thyroid peroxidase [anti-TPO] and anti-thyroglobulin [anti-TG]) for autoimmune thyroid disease
  • Fasting blood glucose tests for associated type 1 diabetes mellitus
  • Antinuclear antibody tests

Cause

Syndromes

Symptoms

(Symptoms can vary from person to person)

  • White or pale patches on areas exposed by the sun e.g. face, scalp, eye lids neck, hands (though it can affect other parts of body less commonly) e.g. genitals, armpits, inside ones mouth, knees, elbows, feet?
  • Pale pink patches (where one has lots of blood vessels under the skin)?
  • Itchy on white patches (not always)?
  • Head or eyelashes been infected causing grey or white hair?
  • Sensitive to the sun (rash) that has white pale patches?

Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:

This condition has been associated with:

General tips

This condition may show similar symptoms to:

Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice

Detailed Information

Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Vitiligo in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).

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  • Nathnac

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  • Better health - NHS

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