Alopecia Areata and Vitiligo Associated With Down's Syndrome

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Abstract
To the Editor.— Nineteen cases of alopecia areata (AA) and four cases of vitiligo were noted in the skin of 214 patients with Down's syndrome. Patients with Down's syndrome are predisposed to immunological deficiency and thymus-dependent (T-cell) function. Drs Carter and Jegasothy suggested that immunological factors might contribute to the increased incidence of AA and vitiligo seen in patients with Down's syndrome.1 In the May Archives (113:688, 1977), a marked depression in peripheral blood T-cell values of our patients with AA was compared with the values of 51 controls. The mean percentage of T-lymphocytes in AA was 58.9% compared with the control population of 74.9%. The number of T cells per cubic millimeter was 1,184 in patients with AA compared with the normal control of 1,461/cu mm. The T-cell percentage and T-cell number in AA patients was significantly different from the controls (P < .001). Ninety-seven percent of our

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