Introduction
Vitiligo is an acquired depigmenting disorder due to melanocyte loss
affecting skin and mucosal surfaces with a prevalence of about 1%.
Different theories regarding its pathogenesis have been put forward,
autoimmunity being the most popular one. The latter is based mainly on
the association of vitiligo with known autoimmune diseases and the
presence of organ specific antibodies in affected patients (1) .
Clinically, autoimmune atrophic gastritis ( AAG) is not associated with
any specific gastrointestinal signs or symptoms. In a recent study,the
most common initial findings were hematological disorders (Pernicious
anemia in 10% to 15%of patients), followed by a positive histology for
gastritis (2) . In less than 10% of the patients, a clinical suspicion
of AAG was provided by the concomitant presence of other autoimmune
diseases.The prevalence of Autoimmune Atrophic Gastritis (A.A.G) in
vitiligo patients, certainly underdiagnosed, was estimated about
15%.(3)
The purpose of our study is first to perform successive biopsies both in
skin and gastric mucosa samples from two patients with vitiligo
associated to AAG and second to compare step by step their histological
and immunohistological characters .