Association of Clinical Markers With Disease Progression in Patients With Vitiligo From China.

Importance It is necessary to determine whether established clinical markers of vitiligo are associated with disease progression, severity, and patient prognosis. Objective To evaluate the utility of trichrome sign, confetti-like depigmentation, and Koebner phenomenon in assessing disease progression, severity, and prognosis in patients with vitiligo. Design, Setting and Participants In this prospective cohort study, 425 patients with vitiligo were recruited from the outpatient department of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University in Shanghai, China, from September 1, 2016, to May 13, 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures Disease progression, severity, and prognosis during a 12-month period. The active stage of vitiligo was defined as Vitiligo European Task Force spreading score of at least 1 or more lesions appearing as hypomelanotic with poorly defined borders using a Wood light. Progression was assessed using the Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI) and serum CXCL10 level measurement. Results Of the 458 enrolled patients, 425 (235 female [55.3%]; mean [SD] age, 30.9 [10.2] years) completed the 12-month follow-up. Of the 425 patients (224 with no clinical marker and 201 with at least 1 clinical marker) included in this analysis, the proportion in the active stage of the disease was significantly higher in the cohort with at least 1 clinical marker compared with the cohort without any clinical marker at the first visit (196 of 201 [97.5%] vs 159 of 224 [71.0%]; P < .001) and at 3-month follow up (91 of 201 [45.3%] vs 52 of 224 [23.2%]; P < .001). The proportion of patients with rapid disease progression was also higher in the group with at least 1 clinical marker at 1-month follow-up (142 of 201 [70.6%] vs 60 of 224 [26.8%]; P < .001) and 3-month follow-up (63 of 201 [31.3%] vs 9 of 224 [4.0%]; P < .001). The improvement in VASI score (SD) was significantly smaller among patients with at least 1 clinical marker compared with those without any clinical marker at 6 months (mean [SD], 0.14 [0.12] vs 0.23 [0.21]; P = .02), at 9 months (mean [SD], 0.29 [0.19] vs 0.44 [0.25]; P = .03), and at 12 months (mean [SD], 0.47 [0.21] vs 0.63 [0.23]; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance The presence of a clinical marker in patients with vitiligo may be associated with worse prognosis and rapid disease progression. Patients with multiple clinical markers may require more intensive treatment.