Concurrent vitiligo and atopic dermatitis successfully treated with upadacitinib: a case report

Abstract

This report described a case of a 16-year-old boy with atopic dermatitis (AD) since childhood, who presented with rapidly progressive and generalized vitiligo in the last 4 months. Due to the poor efficiency of traditional treatment, the patient was treated with JAK1 inhibitor upadacitinib 15 mg daily combined with topical crisaborole. After 4 months of treatment, his vitiligo reached nearly 90% repigmentation of his face and neck, 60% repigmentation of the chest, but only a little repigmentation of the extremities. Additionally, the pruritus of AD disappeared within 24 hours after treatment and the lesions also improved significantly after four months. There was no other adverse effect observed during the treatment except for the worse of his acne. The experience in this patient suggested that JAK1 inhibitors have excellent efficacy in both vitiligo and AD, which even produce dual effects when two diseases co-exist, thus JAK1 inhibitors could be a preferred treatment option in such patients.