The Facial Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (F-VASI), which uses the fingertip unit (FTU), is precise and reliable for assessing the extent of facial involvement in patients with vitiligo, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology .

Jung Min Bae, M.D., Ph.D., from The Catholic University of Korea in Suwona, and colleagues developed and validated a practical instrument for facial vitiligo. The ratio of a hand to an FTU was calculated for 98 healthy volunteers to define the FTU. The sum of all FTUs of each vitiligo lesion on the face was measured as the F-VASI. Six raters evaluated 11 patients with facial vitiligo twice two weeks apart in the validation study.

One hand was measured at 32.1 ± 1.3 FTU, which was highly consistent across age groups, sexes, and races. The researchers found remarkably high accuracy for the F-VASI (concordance correlation coefficient, 0.946), and intrarater reliability was also high (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.903; interrater reliability, 0.903).

"The FTU is a practical and precise measurement unit for assessing the extent of facial involvement in patients with vitiligo (F-VASI)," the authors write. "It not only allows for more precise assessments of small focal lesions on the face or genital area but can also complement VASI measurement of widespread vitiligo through proper conversion."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and health care industries.

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