ORIGINAL ARTICLE   Free access

Italian Journal of Dermatology and Venereology 2021 February;156(1):62-7

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8671.20.06681-X

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Nevus depigmentosus: the analysis of 37 cases

Khalifa E. SHARQUIE ¹, Fatema A. AL-JARALLA ², Robert A. SCHWARTZ ³ ✉, Reem M. ALHYALI ⁴

¹ Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Iraqi and Arab Board for Dermatology and Venereology, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq; ² Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq; ³ Department of Dermatology, Pediatrics, Medicine, and Pathology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA; ⁴ Department of Dermatology, Baghdad Medical City Complex, Baghdad, Iraq

BACKGROUND: Nevus depigmentosus (ND) is an uncommon congenital nonprogressive hypopigmented skin disorder that can be seen anywhere on the body. We considered other depigmenting disorders and focused on distinguishing ND from vitiligo and tuberous sclerosis complex in infancy.
METHODS: The diagnosis of patients with nevus depigmentosus was made differentiating it from nevus anemicus, pityriasis alba, tuberous sclerosis complex, vitiligo and other depigmenting disorders.
RESULTS: Of the 37 individuals with nevus depigmentosus evaluated, 36 were children, twenty-two (59.4%) were males and 15 (40.5%) were females, with male to female ratio 1.4:1.
CONCLUSIONS: Distinguishing ND from other disorders with depigmentation can be challenging, in particular in case of tuberous sclerosis complex and vitiligo in infancy.

KEY WORDS: Nevus, pigmented; Vitiligo; Tuberous sclerosis; Pityriasis