Vitiligo, Beyond White Patches

This article reviews an industry-sponsored satellite symposium that took place at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress 2024 held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 27th September 2024. The session, chaired by Khaled Ezzedine, Professor of Dermatology at Hôpital Henri-Mondor, France, addressed understanding the disease burden of vitiligo and the challenges of accessing optimal care. The session established vitiligo as an autoimmune disease requiring both early and long-term management, as well as utilising shared decision-making in treatment options. Albert Wolkerstorfer, Professor of Dermatology at Amsterdam University Medical Centres, the Netherlands, discussed the underestimated burden of vitiligo disease, including psychological comorbidities, and the impact on quality of life (QoL) compared to other chronic diseases such as psoriasis. He also identified the challenges such as delayed diagnosis and lack of knowledge, and how this impacts access to optimal care. Curtin Conrad, Professor of Dermatology and Head of the Polyclinic and Centre for Psoriasis Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland, then considered the pathogenesis of non-segmental vitiligo, focusing on the role of the JAK-signal STAT pathway and how it drives the disease mechanisms and maintenance, emphasising the important need for early intervention and long-term considerations for the management of vitiligo. Finally, Markus Böhm, Professor of Dermatology at the University Hospital Münster, Germany, identified the importance of utilising shared decision-making in vitiligo treatment strategies, especially for long-term commitment, and how ruxolitinib cream fits into this shared decision-making and overall treatment strategy, considering the efficacy and safety data.