Vitiligo following intense pulsed light treatment

Abstract

Vitiligo is an acquired depigmenting disorder characterized by the progressive loss of melanocytes from the epidermis and epidermal appendages, which results in milky-white macular lesions. Various factors are suspected to affect the induction and progression of vitiligo such as emotional shock, sunburn, pregnancy, physical illness and trauma. The intense pulsed light (IPL) device which mostly affects redness and dyspigmentation has a broad spectrum of emissions of white light with wavelengths between approximately 515 and 1200 nm. Adverse effects such as purpura and pigmentary changes are known to be rare. We present a 41-year-old woman who developed multiple round, hypopigmented macules on both the cheek and mandibular area following the treatment with IPL for lentigines and dyspigmentation. Based on biopsy and Wood's lamp examination, diagnosis as vitiligo was made. She was treated with a 308-nm excimer laser. After 3 months of treatment, almost complete repigmentation was seen but another coin-sized hypopigmented patch was noted after 5 months later. Herein, we report a case of vitiligo which developed after IPL treatment. This is the first case to be reported which vitiligo developed after IPL treatment. Therefore, dermatologists should be aware of unsighted vitiligo lesion before IPL treatment.