10.5826/dpc.1203a114
text/xml
2160-9381
2104
en
Mohammed Ibrahim AlJasser
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Dermatology Practical & Conceptual
leukotrichia; vitiligo; dermoscopy; treatment
Dermoscopy for facial leukotrichia in vitiligo: An important step for a better treatment decision
Text.Serial.Journal
https://dpcj.org/index.php/dpc
Image Letter
2022-07-28
2021-10-14
2022-07-28
2022-09-15
e2022114
Dermatol Pract Concept
Mohammed Ibrahim AlJasser
2022/07/28
10.5826/dpc.1203a114
e2022114
Division of Dermatology, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences ; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2160-9381
leukotrichia; vitiligo; dermoscopy; treatment
en
e2022114
Dermoscopy for facial leukotrichia in vitiligo: An important step for a better treatment decision
https://dpcj.org/index.php/dpc/article/download/2104/1681
                    Dermatology Practical & Conceptual


    Dermoscopy for Facial Leukotrichia in Vitiligo:
  an Important Step for a Better Treatment Decision
                                               Mohammed Ibrahim AlJasser1,2


1 Division of Dermatology, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2 King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia



Citation: AlJasser MI. Dermoscopy for facial leukotrichia in vitiligo: An important step for a better treatment decision.
Dermatol Pract Concept. 2022;12(3):e2022114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5826/dpc.1203a114
Accepted: November 16, 2021; Published: July 2022
Copyright: ©2022 AlJasser. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial License (BY-NC-4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, which permits unrestricted noncommercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: None.
Corresponding author: Mohammed I. AlJasser MBBS FRCPC, Associate Professor, Division of Dermatology, King Saud bin Abdulaziz
University for Health Sciences, P.O. Box 3660, Riyadh 11481, Saudi Arabia, Tel: +966-11-4299999 ext. 95211, Fax: +966-11-429 9999
Ext. 95148, E-mail: jasserm@ksau-hs.edu.sa; mj_derma@hotmail.com




Case Presentation                                                        Teaching point
A 14-year-old female with stable generalized vitiligo                    Leukotrichia within vitiligo is known to be associated with
(body surface area 1%) was being treated with excimer                    poor response to medical and light therapy. Therefore, it
laser and tacrolimus 0.1% ointment. She showed some                      is important to identify leukotrichia in order to predict re-
re-pigmentation in some body sites such as the knees. How-               sponse to treatment within a given body site. It is often dif-
ever, facial patches showed very minimal re-pigmentation                 ficult to detect leukotrichia clinically especially in areas with
despite receiving many sessions of excimer laser. Dermos-                fine vellus hair such as the face. Dermoscopy has recently
copy showed leukotrichia affecting the whole vitiliginous                emerged as a valuable tool in the assessment of vitiligo, es-
facial areas (Figure 1). The patient was therefore advised to            pecially for disease activity [1,2]. We find dermoscopy very
undergo melanocyte transplantation. Topical and laser ther-              helpful in detecting leukotrichia that cannot be seen clini-
apy were discontinued.                                                   cally by the naked eye, especially for facial patches.




Image Letter | Dermatol Pract Concept. 2022;12(3):e2022114                                                                              1
Figure 1. (A) Facial vitiligo with minimal response to many sessions of excimer laser. (B) Polarized dermoscopy clearly demonstrate multiple
white vellus hairs within vitiliginous skin . Leukotrichia was difficult to appreciate with the naked eye.



References                                                               2. Kumar Jha A, Sonthalia S, Lallas A, Chaudhary RKP.. Der-
                                                                            moscopy in vitiligo: diagnosis and beyond. Int J Dermatol.
 1. Jha AK, Sonthalia S, Lallas A. Dermoscopy as an evolving tool to        2018;57(1):50–54. DOI: 10.1111/ijd.13795. PMID: 29076154.
    assess vitiligo activity. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2018;78(5):1017–
    1019. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2017.12.009. PMID: 29229577.




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