Vitiligo: Diagnosis and Prognosis
Diagnosis
Medical history and exam
If your doctor suspects you have vitiligo, he or she will ask about your medical history and examine you. Important factors in your medical history include:
Skin biopsy and blood draw
In addition to gathering your personal and family medical history and examining your skin, your doctor may also:
If your doctor suspects you have vitiligo, he or she will ask about your medical history and examine you. Important factors in your medical history include:
- A family history of vitiligo or an autoimmune disease
- A personal history of sun sensitivity or other skin conditions
- A rash, sunburn or other skin trauma within two to three months of the start of pigment loss
- A history of melanoma or multiple, atypical moles
- Premature graying of the hair (before age 35)
- Stress or physical illness
Skin biopsy and blood draw
In addition to gathering your personal and family medical history and examining your skin, your doctor may also:
- Take a small sample (biopsy) of your affected skin
- Draw blood to check your blood cell count, thyroid function and to look for the presence of anti-nuclear antibodies (a type of autoantibody) that would indicate an autoimmune disease
Prognosis
The cosmetic and psychological impact of vitiligo can be devastating in patients and could result in low esteem, poor body image (dysmorphea) and difficulties in personal and social relationships. It is not possible to predict the exact outcome of treatment in vitiligo; but some factors may help assess the prognosis and possible positive responses to medical and surgical therapies.
What is the Normal Course of Vitiligo or What Happens if Vitiligo is Left Untreated?
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What is the Normal Course of Vitiligo or What Happens if Vitiligo is Left Untreated?
- In less than one third of patients the vitiligo patches may stop progressing and remain stationary throughout life. In about 30% of patients there is spontaneous pigmentation, especially in the sun exposed areas; though this usually does not extend to cover the full area of skin color loss.
- In most patients the vitiligo has a rapid onset followed by slow progression with the color loss localized to certain parts of the body.
- In others, left untreated, vitiligo progresses relentlessly to become generalized turning the skin fully white, with islands of black or brown skin at places.
- Segmental vitiligo, which is limited to an area supplied by a branch of cutaneous nerve (called a dermatome), after attaining certain size, remains stationary without any further whitening of the skin in other areas of the body.
- In some patients, regardless of treatment, the repigmentation is slow and never may be complete, especially of the finger tips, feet, bony prominences like elbows, wrist, lips, genitals etc.
- In others, as in Michael Jackson, irrespective of treatment, the vitiligo progresses to turn the skin white all over the body, leaving islands of pigmented skin at places. In such cases, the vitiligo patients opt for bleaching out the pigmented normal skin so that the skin becomes uniformly white to give satisfactory cosmetic appearance. This is how Michael Jackson turned white.
- In many patients, especially in those with involvement of limited area of skin with proper treatment, the patients recover with full repigmentation.
- The treatment of vitiligo associated diseases like thyroiditis does not have any effect on the course of the vitiligo.
Read more at Suite101: Normal Course and Prognosis of Vitiligo: What Happens if Vitiligo is Left Untreated? | Suite101.com http://suite101.com/article/normal-course-and-prognosis-of-vitiligo-a130721#ixzz26vn6PxLW
By: DJ Morgan