A case of concurrent vitiligo and psoriasis

Abstract

Vitiligo and psoriasis are common dermatoses that occur in 1~3% and 0.5% of the general population, respectively. There have been several reports of the concurrence of these diseases in the English medical literature. Yet the pathogenesis of the association between these two dermatoses is still unknown. Psoriasis may occur coincidentally with vitiligo and it may be strictly confined to the vitiliginous patches or it may occur elsewhere. Despite the reports in the English literature, there has been only one case of vitiligo and psoriasis coexisting in the same patient and these diseases occurred in separate sites in the Korean dermatologic literature. A 30-year-old man recently presented with spreading vitiligo on the right forearm and a 3-month history of guttate psoriasis on the left forearm. He had a family history of psoriasis without any history of associated autoimmune disease. Herein, we report on a case of coexisting vitiligo and psoriasis in the same individual at different sites and we review the relevant literature.

Keywords: Concurrent; Psoriasis; Vitiligo.

Fig. 1

(A) Discontinuous linear hypopigmented patches from the wrist to the axillar region along the Blaschko's line on the right arm. (B) A 0.3 cm to 1 cm-sized round shaped erythematous patch with scales on the left forearm. (C) Improved erythematous patches after 4 weeks of topical steroids and the improved pigmentation on the hypopigmented patches with 308-nm excimer laser treatment.

Fig. 2

Munro microabscess, psoriasiform hyperplasia of the rete ridges and the dilated and torturous vessels at the papillary dermal layer (H&E, ×100).

Fig. 3

The normal skin of the right arm was S-100 protein positive (A) and Melan-A positive (B), and the hypopigmented lesion of the right arm was S-100 protein negative (C) and Melan-A negative (D) (×200).