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Definition, location, Incidence | |
| Vitiligo is a chronic skin disease involving a shortage (hypochromia) or a total lack (achromia) of pigments, which gives place to patches with sharp, often hyperpigmented edges, in strong colour contrast with the normally pigmented surrounding skin (Fig. 1,Fig. 1bis). These patches are usually located symmetrically, may appear in any part of the body, and their onset does not depend on sex or on the colour of the skin and hair of the affected person.
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As far as patient age is concerned (Fig. 2), vitiligo seems to occur more frequently between 20 and 40 years of age; its prevalence in children seems to be significantly increasing compared to the past. At a world-wide level, vitiligo is estimated to have a 1% incidence, however much higher in industrialised countries; for example, as many as 1,000,000 people are estimated to be affected by this disease in Italy. Vitiligo is subject to progressive development and subsides spontaneously in very few cases only; on the other hand it is painless, non-infectious, and definitely benign: it does not affect the patient’s general health conditions, but may be psychologically and socially impairing, in that it has an often widespread and quite visible negative aesthetic outcome. |
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