Vitiligo and other hypopigmentation disorders in children and adolescents

Abstract

Th e loss of pigment, either partial (hypopigmentation) or complete(depigmentation), can have a major psychological impact on patients.Hypopigmentation disorders, congenital and acquired, are very numerous,and many of them are rarely seen. Th is paper provides anoverview of the most common hypopigmentation disorders in childrenand adolescents, stressing the importance of vitiligo and autoimmunedisorders in patients. Vitiligo is an acquired disease, possibly ofautoimmune nature, sometimes with a clear hereditary component,which is characterized by progressive, clearly defi ned, milky whitespots on the skin and/or mucous membranes. In about 50% of patientsvitiligo occurs before 20 years of age. Th e clinical picture of vitiligo inchildren and adolescents is similar to adults, but there are some differencesin the epidemiology, their associations with other endocrineand/or autoimmune diseases and treatment of vitiligo in childrencompared to adult patients.