Prevalence of psoriasis in a study of 261 patients with vitiligo Prevalência de psoríase em estudo de 261 pacientes com vitiligo

BACKGROUND A study about the association of psoriasis and vitiligo is necessary due to possible immunologic origin of these diseases and their susceptibility loci found on chromosome 1p31. OBJECTIVE The main objective was to determine the prevalence of psoriasis among patients with vitiligo in a sample of 740 patients submitted to phototherapy and to describe their clinical features. METHOD Out of 740 patients, 261 were retrospectively studied and analyzed regarding the association of vitiligo and psoriasis, from 2000 to 2004. RESULTS The prevalence of this association in our survey was 3.06%, which is similar to other previous studies. We identified two cases not reported in our literature review: a) the association of psoriasis, vitiligo and halo nevus, b) the association of segmental vitiligo and psoriasis. CONCLUSIONS The association of vitiligo and psoriasis has not been often reported, and further studies on the pathophysiology and genetics of this association are necessary