ABSTRACT
Vitiligo is an acquired, chronic, pigmentary disorder characterized by the progressive loss and dysfunction of the melanocytes from epidermis and epidermal appendages, which results in hypopigmented cutaneous areas that progressively become amelanotic. The incidence of vitiligo varies in different countries, ranging from 0.1% to over 8.8%. Clinically, vitiligo is characterized by asymptomatic, milk-white macules and patches, with well-defined borders. A review of vitiligo's epidemiology, conducted by C. Kruger and K. U. Schallreuter on more than 50 studies, reports a greater general prevalence, ranging between 0.5% and 2.0%. Apart from differences due to nonunified methods in collecting epidemiological data, it is clear that vitiligo incidence has fluctuations that seem to be related to both genetic and environmental factors. In some cases, vitiligo patients may also show different clinical variants of the disease and abnormalities of the melanocytes localized in different organs.
