Childhood vitiligo: clinicoepidemiologic profile of 268 children from the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand, India.

Childhood vitiligo differs from adult vitiligo in many clinical parameters. The objective of the current study was to study the clinicoepidemiologic profile of childhood vitiligo and to compare various clinical characteristics of childhood- and later-onset vitiligo. The clinical presentation of vitiligo was examined and analyzed in 762 individuals attending the Dermatology Clinic of Government Medical College, Haldwani, a referral center for the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand state, India, between January 2006 and December 2010. Of the 762 individuals with vitiligo, 268 (35.2%) were children: 152 (56.7%) female and 116 (43.3%) male. The mean age of onset of vitiligo was 6.9 years. A family history of vitiligo was found in 24.3% of children. The most common site of onset was the head and neck (36.9%), followed by the lower limbs and trunk. The most common type of vitiligo observed was acrofacial vitiligo (38.1%), followed by vulgaris, segmental, focal, and mucosal. Leukotrichia was observed in 32.5% of children and Koebner's phenomenon in 24.3%. On comparison of childhood- and later-onset vitiligo, there were statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in sex, family history, type of vitiligo (segmental and vulgaris), and site of onset. Atopic dermatitis was one of the important cutaneous diseases associated with childhood-onset vitiligo. Thirty-five percent of all patients with vitiligo were children (≤12 yrs). Childhood-onset vitilgo differs from later-onset vitiligo in many clinical parameters such as sex, family history, types of vitiligo, and sites of onset.