The study on the clinical characteristics of childhood vitiligo

Background: Childhood vitiligo is a distinct subset of vitiligo and somewhat different from adulthood vitiligo. However, there are a few published studies that have investigated the clinical aspects of childhood vitiligo in Korea. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical aspects of childhood vitiligo in Korea. Methods: This clinical investigation was made on 134 outpatients with childhood vitiligo who had visited Department of Dermatology, Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, from January 1992 to December 1999. Results: The results are summarized as follows; 1. Male to female ratio was approximately 1:1. The mean ages of onset and first visiting were 5 and 6.7 years respectively, and the mean duration of disease was 1.7 years. 2. Only seven patients had vitiligo and one patient had premature graying of hairs among their parents and siblings. 3. There was no known precipitating factor in most cases (93.3%) except in 9 patients. 4. The associated skin diseases were atopic dermatitis (20.9%), poliosis(6.0%), alopecia areata(1.5%), halo nevus(1.5%), and so on. 5. The most common clinical type was localized(51.5%), and then generalized(26.1%), segmental (20.9%), and acrofacial(1.5%) in decreasing order. 6. The sites of frequent involvement were head and neck(56.7%), trunk(42.5%), upper extremity(17.2%), and lower extremity (17.9%). 7. The average 4% of body surface area was involved. During recent 3 months the lesions increased in number and size in 66 patients (49.3%), whereas the lesions were stable in 57 patients (42.5%). 8. The most common clinical differential diagnosis of childhood vitiligo is nevus depigmentosus in 47 patients(35.1%). 9. Twenty-seven patients had past history of previous treatment including topical application of steroid and topical PUVA. Conclusion: Based on these clinical findings, childhood vitiligo seems different from adult vitiligo clinically.