DESCRIPTIVE OVERVIEW OF VITILIGO

Abstract

Introduction: Vitiligo is an acquired idiopathic autoimmune disorder showing non regular depigmentation of the skin, hair, or both. It may show with amelanotic, milky-white, firmly demarcated macules or patches of normal skin. Vitiligo, a common depigmenting skin disorder, with a prevalence of about 0.5-2% worldwide. Among the therapies commonly used as treatment are systemic glucocorticoids and phototherapy. Objective: to detail the current information related to vitiligo, epidemiology, etiology, presentation, differential diagnosis and treatments. Methodology: a total of 30 articles were analyzed in this review, including review and original articles, as well as clinical cases, of which 21 bibliographies were used because the other articles were not relevant to this study. The sources of information were PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane; the terms used to search for information in Spanish, Portuguese and English were: vitiligo, depigmenting, melanocytes. Results: Vitiligo is present in all ethnic groups, as well as in all skin types without predilection. It is a profound disease with a genetic risk between 75% and 83%, the remaining percentage being due to environmental factors. Conclusions: Vitiligo, a common depigmenting skin disorder, with a prevalence around 0.5-2% in adults and children. The disease is multifactorial with a polygenic inheritance pattern, so the individual contribution of each genetic variant to susceptibility is relatively minimal. Vitiligo is a depigmentation that can be primary, circumscribed or generalized in the skin and mucous membranes, linked to melanocyte self-destruction, genetic factors, autoimmunity, oxidative stress and cytokines. The detailed molecular mechanisms still need further investigation. Diagnosis is usually clinical, by finding acquired, amelanotic, non-squamous, chalky-white, chalky-white maccules with distinct margins in a typical distribution. The differential diagnosis is of utmost importance for this purpose Woods lamp can be used to facilitate the diagnosis. Vitiligo presents 2 segmental and non-segmental types. As the development and understanding of the molecular mechanism improves, treatment will become more and more precise. Treatment should be individualized and take into account the location, clinical presentation and presence of activity. KEY WORDS: vitiligo, skin, melanocytes, macules, hypopigmented.