Research shows more than 20% of patients with vitiligo have at least one comorbid autoimmune disease

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 20% of patients with vitiligo in a Detroit hospital database had at least one comorbid autoimmune disease, according to research in a poster presentation at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.

Iltefat Hamzavi, MD, FAAD, and colleagues searched the Henry Ford Medical Record Database to identify 1,873 patients with vitiligo who were seen between Jan. 1, 2002, and Oct. 31, 2012. After a manual review of the patients’ electronic records, 1,098 patients were included in the study analysis. The researchers then assessed the prevalence of autoimmune disease (AID) in patients with vitiligo, which was compared with the general U.S. population.

Hamzavi

More than 20% of the patients had at least one comorbid AID, Hamzavi reported. Previous associations with thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, pernicious anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus were confirmed. Thyroid disease was 15 times more common in patients with vitiligo compared with the general population, Hamzavi reported in an AAD press release.

Associations not previously identified included alopecia areata, Guillain-Barré syndrome, linear morphea, Myasthenia gravis, discoid lupus and Sjögren’s syndrome.

Although some of these comorbidities are relatively rare and only occurred in a few of the patients with vitiligo, they were more prevalent than the researchers expected. Linear morphea occurred 182 times more frequently than expected, whereas Guillain-Barré syndrome occurred 137 times more frequently than expected, according to the press release.

When treating patients with vitiligo, physicians should be aware of the associated comorbid conditions and their prevalence, so they can direct their patients to receive appropriate screening, the researchers reported.

“Vitiligo is often perceived to be ‘only a cosmetic condition,’ but it’s not just a disease of the skin,” Hamzavi said in the release. “While the skin is a primary target, other organs are also at risk, and the emotional effects on patients can be devastating.” – by Bruce Thiel

Reference:

Gill L, et al. Paper #1068. Presented at: American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting. March 20-24, 2015; San Francisco.

Disclosure: Hamzavi reports financial ties with Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, Clinuvel, Daavlin Company, Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences, Estee Lauder, Ferndale Laboratories, Galderma Laboratories, Microdermis Corporation and Pfizer. Healio.com/Dermatology was unable to determine the relative financial disclosures of the other researchers.