Epidemiological aspects and disease association of childhood vitiligo

To determine, for the first time in Iran, different epidemiological aspects and association of vitiligo with diseases between children and adults. This was a cross-sectional study with 324 participants, divided into 3 groups, each consisting of 108 of cases. The first group consisted of sex matched adults with vitiligo, second group were children between 2 and 18 years old with vitiligo [case group] and the third group were children with other skin disorders being matched for age and sex. Laboratory tests such as FBS, thyroid function test, CBC/Differentials and anti TPO antibody obtained from the participants and the type of the vitiligo was recorded. Our findings showed that thyroid abnormalities were seen in 4.5% of children of the case group. FBS was higher in only one child with vitiligo. Family history of vitiligo was significantly different between children with vitiligo and those with other skin disorders [p=0.001]. In our research, most of the children with vitiligo had positive anti-TPO antibody, confirming the importance of anti - TPO screening test in vitiligo patients

[Frequency of diabetes mellitus in skin tag patients in comparison with control group]

Background and Aims: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common types of chronic disease leading to serious complications such as blindness, end stage renal disease [ESRD], neuropathy and cardiac disorders. Skin tag is a common benign skin tumor that its association with impaired carbohydrate metabolism has been reported in some studies. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of diabetes and other carbohydrate metabolism disorders in patients with and without skin tag

Methods: In a case- control study on 200 individuals over 30 years old referring to Dermatology Clinic of Afzalipour Hospital, 100 individuals with at least 3 skin tags as case group and 100 individuals without skin tag as control group underwent FBS and standard GTT tests

Results: There was no significant difference between case and control groups in the frequency of diabetes [19% vs. 10%], IGTT [11%vs.13%] and IFG [19% vs. 15%]. Mean FBS and GTT were significantly higher in the case group compared to the control group. There was a positive correlation between the total number of skin tags and mean FBS [r= 0.33, P= 0.001] and GTT [r= 0.37, P= 0.000]. The frequency of diabetes in patients with at least 20 skin tags was 45.8%. Positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity and specificity of skin tag for the diagnosis of diabetes were 19%, 90%, 52% and 65% respectively

Conclusion: This study revealed that patients with skin tags are at a higher risk of carbohydrate metabolism disorders. Therefore, screening of patients with skin tag for carbohydrate metabolism disorders is recommended