Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Vitiligo is a common acquired disorder characterized by depigmented cutaneous patches devoid of melanocytes. The disease carries a risk for ocular abnormalities. Few reports are available about the ocular findings and their possible association with the disease in patients with vitiligo in the literature.

Methods: A total of 72 patients with previously documented cutaneous vitiligo were examined for ocular findings and 50 healthy individuals were enrolled as the control group in Razi Hospital in Tehran, Iran during years 2007-2008. Demographic features including age, gender, duration of the disease, presence of any accompanying autoimmune diseases, type of vitiligo and its anatomical distribution were recorded to investigate a possible association between the disease and the ocular findings.

Results: Amongst 72 patients with vitiligo, 11 (15.3%) had ocular findings including retinal pigment epithelium hypopigmentation, posterior pole pigment changes, peripheral iris atrophy, atrophy of retinal pigment epithelium and iris hyperpigmentation. Amongst the controls, only two cases (4%) had ocular findings which consisted of iris hyperpigmentation. The relationship between ocular findings and vitiligo was statistically significant (p= 0.04). No other remarkable features, such as age, gender, age at the onset of the disease, type of vitiligo, presence of priorbital lesions or body surface area involvement by the disease, were suggestive of an association or presenting a risk factor for vitiligo.

Conclusion: Although the sample size and prevalence of ocular findings were not satisfactory enough to make a definite conclusion, we found a higher occurrence of ocular findings in patients with vitiligo than the control group.