Abstract
Standardized methodologies for describing and classifying vitiligo and for assessing the effect of treatments are needed to be developed. Currently, there are many noninvasive techniques available for diagnosis and assessment of vitiligo. Objective measurements of vitiligo area using digital image analysis are available. Noninvasive instruments such as reflectance spectroscopy or dermoscopy are methods to characterize and study vitiligo lesion. The Vitiligo European Task Force (VETF) recommends Wood’s light examination as a diagnostic tool in evaluating vitiligo to assess staging and spreading in a selected area. More reliable and quantitative measures to augment clinical judgment of vitiligo assessment include image analysis of digital photographs. The digital image analysis system can overcome the inevitable differences between observers, which are intrinsic to a visual grading method, and is advisable for clinical trials on vitiligo to objectively assess repigmentation in limited lesions (Linthorst Homan MW et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 27(2):e235–238, 2013). However, this technique needs to be properly validated.
Limitations of this method include as the technique is complex and laborious, it is only feasible for monitoring limited areas of vitiligo and less feasible in daily practice. Mexameter measurement provides a clinically accessible and straightforward means of increasing diagnostic accuracies in hypopigmentary disorders. In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a real-time, repetitive imaging tool that provides noninvasive images at a nearly histological resolution. RCM could be used in the therapeutic monitoring and evaluation of the evolution of vitiligo. Limitations of RCM include that the instrument is expensive and the RCM imaging can still be time-consuming especially for the systematic examination of lesion area. Also, this machine requires a group of technicians to operate it and an expert to analyze the images.
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Kang, H.Y., Ardigò, M. (2019). Methods to Study Vitiligo: Noninvasive Techniques and In Vivo Reflectance Confocal Microscopy. In: Picardo, M., Taïeb, A. (eds) Vitiligo. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62960-5_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62960-5_21
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