A New Assessment Method of Vitiligo by Combination of Dermoscopy and Reflectance Confocal Microscopy

The study involved 279 patients with vitiligo and proposed a new scoring system for assessing vitiligo activity and monitoring treatment response by combining dermoscopy and Reflectance Confocal Microscopy (RCM). This combined method showed a sensitivity of 97.33% and specificity of 75.93%, higher than using either technique alone. Certain dermoscopic and RCM features, such as increased pigment at the lesions and around the hair follicles, changes of lesion borders, white hair restoration, and telangiectasia, were significantly associated with good treatment response. Despite limitations like a small sample size and lack of histological and cytological confirmation of RCM features, the study concludes that this combined method provides a more objective evaluation of vitiligo disease activity and treatment effects.