Progressive macular hypomelanosis is a common skin condition, a disorder, observed more frequently in young women with darkly pigmented skin who originate from or reside in tropical climates.
An interesting property of the skin condition is that it can be easily identified using a
Wood's lamp
A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long-wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separat ...
. The lack of pigment results and a clear observation of homogeneous white areas, while the involvement of ''
Cutibacterium acnes
''Cutibacterium acnes'' (formerly ''Propionibacterium acnes'') is the relatively slow-growing, typically aerotolerant anaerobic, gram-positive bacterium (rod) linked to the skin condition of acne; it can also cause chronic blepharitis and endopht ...
'' will show an orange fluorescence due to its
coproporphyrin III. That way it can be differentiated from other hypopigmentary disorders such as vitiligo."
[Westerhof W, Relyveld GN, Kingswijk MM, de Man P, Menke HE, Propionibacterium acnes and the pathogenesis of progressive macular hypomelanosis, ''Arch Dermatol.'' 2004 Feb;140(2):210-4.]
See also
*
Riehl melanosis
Riehl melanosis is a form of contact dermatitis, beginning with pruritus, erythema, and pigmentation that gradually spreads which, after reaching a certain extent, becomes stationary. The pathogenesis of Riehl melanosis is believed to be sun expos ...
*
List of cutaneous conditions
References
Disturbances of human pigmentation
{{Dermatology-stub