Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jan-Feb;60(1):103.
doi: 10.4103/0019-5154.147844.

Oral manifestations of vitiligo

Anitha Nagarajan  1 , Mahaboob Kader Masthan  1 , Leena Sankari Sankar  1 , Aravindha Babu Narayanasamy  1 , Rajesh Elumalai  1
Affiliations

Oral manifestations of vitiligo

Anitha Nagarajan et al. Indian J Dermatol. 2015 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Background: Vitiligo is one of the disorder that has social impact. Both skin and mucous membrane show depigmentation in vitiligo. Depigmentation in oral cavity can be more easily observed and the patient can be given awareness regarding the condition if they are unaware of vitiligo elsewhere in their body and can be guided for treatment.

Aim and objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of occurrence of oral mucosal vitiligo in vitiligo patients and to determine the most commonly involved oral mucosal site.

Materials and methods: The study sample included 100 vitiligo patients. The patients of all age groups and both genders were included. Vitiligo patients associated with systemic conditions such as thyroid disorders, juvenile diabetes mellitus, pernicious anemia, Addison's disease were excluded in this study.

Results: Out of 100 vitiligo patients 44 % male and 56% were female. The oral presentation of vitiligo in this study showed depigmentation of buccal mucosa in 5% of patients, labial mucosa in 5% of patients, palate in 8% of patients, gingiva in 2% of patients and alveolar mucosa 1%. Depigmentation of lip was seen in 42% of patients. Lip involvement refers to depigmentation of both the lips or either lip. Also vermilion border involvement was noted in majority of cases. In some cases, the depigmentation of lip extended to the facial skin also.

Conclusion: In this study 55 patients out of 100 patients showed depigmentation in the oral cavity. Lip involvement was most common in this study showing about 42% of patients. Intraoral mucosal involvement was found in 21% of patients. Among intraoral mucosal site palate was common followed by buccal and labial mucosa, gingiva. Two patients had lip pigmentation as the only manifestation without any depigmentation in the skin.

Keywords: Depigmentation; leukoderma; leukopathia; vitiligo.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Nil.

Figures

Graph 1
Graph 1
Pie chart showing the age distribution among the 100 vitiligo patients
Graph 2
Graph 2
Percentage of presence and absence of oral depigmentation in lips, buccal mucosa, labial mucosa, palate and gingiva among the study group
Graph 3
Graph 3
Presence of oral findings with respect to age
Graph 4
Graph 4
Presence of oral findings with respect to gender
Figure 1
Figure 1
Depigmentation in lip
Figure 2
Figure 2
Depigmentation in palate
Figure 3
Figure 3
Depigmentation in buccal mucosa
Figure 4
Figure 4
Depigmentation in labial mucosa
Figure 5
Figure 5
Depigmentation in gingiva
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Moretti S. Giannotti B, editor. Vitiligo. [Last accessed on 2014 Dec 11]. Available from: http://www.orpha.net/data/patho/GB/uk-.vitiligo.pdf .
    1. Lawoyin D, Brown R, Reid E, Sam F, Obayomi T. Concurrent presentation of cutaneous and oral soft tissue vitiligo: A case report and literature review. The Int J of Dent Sci. 2007;5:56–60.
    1. Kavuossi H. Induction of depigmentation in a universal vitiligo patient with combination of cryotherapy and phenol. J Pak Assoc Dermatol. 2009;19:112–4.
    1. Herane MI. Vitiligo and leukoderma in children. Clin Dermatol. 2003;21:283–95. - PubMed
    1. Oyarbide-Valencia K, van den Boorn JG, Denman CJ, Li M, Carlson JM, Hernandez C, et al. Therapeutic implications of autoimmune vitiligo T cells. Autoimmun Rev. 2006;5:486–92. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources