Department of Dermatology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Int J Dermatol. 2011 Aug;50(8):925-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2011.04914.x.
In vitiligo, the melanocyte of the hair follicle is one of the major sources for repigmentation. Segmental vitiligo seems to be often associated with white hairs. However, in the case of small vellus hairs, it is often difficult or impossible to detect hair color. Thus, the real incidence of leukotrichia in segmental vitiligo has not been known.
In this study, we investigated the existence of white hairs in the lesional skin of 82 patients with segmental vitiligo. When it was difficult to detect hair color with the naked eye or a magnifier, a digital microscope with 30× magnification was used.
Interestingly, all 82 patients showed leukotrichia in segmental vitiligo independent of age and disease duration. Some patients had more than 90% white hairs in the lesional skin, and they showed poor response to medical treatment.
Based on our results, a very high percentage of patients with segmental vitiligo may be associated with leukotrichia. Many white hairs in segmental vitiligo may contribute to the lack of response with medical treatment. The examination of hair color with a digital microscope may be very useful for the prediction of treatment outcome and decision of treatment modalities.
在白癜风中，毛囊的黑素细胞是再色素化的主要来源之一。节段性白癜风似乎经常与白发有关。然而，对于小毳毛，往往很难或不可能检测到毛发颜色。因此，节段性白癜风中真正的白发发生率尚不清楚。
在这项研究中，我们调查了 82 例节段性白癜风患者皮损皮肤中是否存在白发。当肉眼或放大镜难以检测到毛发颜色时，使用放大倍数为 30 倍的数字显微镜进行检查。
有趣的是，所有 82 例节段性白癜风患者均存在白发，与年龄和疾病持续时间无关。一些患者皮损皮肤中超过 90%的毛发是白色的，他们对药物治疗的反应较差。
根据我们的结果，可能有非常高比例的节段性白癜风患者与白发有关。节段性白癜风中有许多白发可能导致对药物治疗反应不佳。使用数字显微镜检查毛发颜色对于预测治疗效果和选择治疗方式可能非常有用。
