WOOD Lamp Examination for Vitiligo

WOOD lamp is also called smoothing ultraviolet lamp, which get 320-400nm long wave ultraviolet ray by filter containing nickel cyanide. It is one of the common equipments for vitiligo examination and diagnosis. It is mainly used to diagnose abnormal pigment disease, skin infection, porphyrism and etc. As one the assistant examination methods in clinical dermatological department, WOOD lamp has very extensive application range.

Under WOOD lamp, melanin will absorb while wavelength ultraviolet ray. If melanin decrease, the refraction will be strong and show light color. If melanin increase, the refraction will be weak and show dead color. In this way, doctors can judge whether patients’ skin have vitiligo or not.

By WOOD lamp, doctors can differ vitiligo with other kinds of spots. Under WOOD lamp, the vitiligo lesion is pure white, having a striking contrast with the surrounding normal color. The boundary is clear. But nevus depigmentosus, Pityriasis alba, tuberous sclerosis, depigmentation after inflammation, depigmentation of leprosy are yellowwish white or gray white under WOOD light. Tinea versicolor is claybank or yellowish white. Nevus anemicus can not appear light white lesion.

Besides, WOOD lamp can check accurately melanin depigmentation degree at vitiligo lesion positions, distinguish it is complete vitiligo or incomplete vitiligo and examine lesions that can not be found by naked eye.

Besides, I want to induce you a kind of advanced vitiligo examination equipment-three-dimensional skin CT. It overcomes former examination limitation that just make examination for skin lesion surface and low resolution ratio of skin ultrasound. It is the noninvasive skin radiological technology, having the most clinical application value recently. Three-dimensional skin CT has high accuracy, it just needs short time to scan skin, and then it can check the relation of keratinocyte and melanophore, dermis and epidermis. Compared to biopsy, it is more convenient and no trauma. It can not only differ vitiligo with other diseases, but also analyse lesion condition and melanin depigmentation degree, which provide accurate and objective gist to skin disease treatment.

If you want a further knowledge about vitiligo causes, you can send your own problem to vitiligocure@hotmail.com and we will give you a professional solution. After all, the symptoms are similar, but the real conditions are different.To cure this illness,we need to find the authentic pathogenesis according to different conditions of different patients.