Dermoscopy in vitiligo: diagnosis and beyond

Abstract

Background

Vitiligo is essentially a clinical diagnosis, and dermoscopy may aid in noninvasive confirmation of diagnosis by excluding other clinically simulating hypopigmentary conditions. More importantly, dermoscopy is rapidly gaining ground as an important adjunct tool to evaluate disease activity.

Aim

To study the dermoscopic features of vitiligo and ascertain their correlation with disease activity.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of dermoscopy of 60 cases suffering from vitiligo was undertaken. Dermoscopy was performed using Dermlite II hybrid m dermatoscope at 10× magnification in polarized mode, and photographs were captured by Apple iphone 6. Variables assessed in the dermoscopic evaluation included perifollicular changes, perilesional changes, altered pigmentary network, and presence of specific features such as the starburst appearance, comet tail appearance, leukotrichia, telangiectasia, and any new findings.

Results

Sixty patients with stable, progressive, or repigmenting vitiligo were retrospectively studied. While perifollicular depigmentation (PFD) was predictive of stable vitiligo, perifollicular pigmentation (PFP) was characteristic of active disease. Starburst appearance, altered pigment network, and comet tail appearance, were also noted, and these were typical of progressive vitiligo. A new dermoscopic feature, the 'tapioca sago' appearance (sabudana), was observed in the skin adjacent to the vitiligo lesion only in patients with progressive vitiligo.

Conclusion

Dermoscopy is useful in assessing the stage of evolution and the status of disease activity in vitiligo. The most useful dermoscopic clues are observed in the perifollicular region, since progressive lesions display perifollicular pigmentation and stable/remitting lesions display perifolliclar depigmentation.