Like Father, Like Son? Prince Michael Appears to Have Vitiligo

Jul. 1, 2010— -- Michael Jackson's eldest son may suffer from the same skin-lightening condition as the King of Pop.

In recent pictures released from a Hawaii vacation, Prince Michael, 13, is seen with a patch of de-pigmented skin on his right underarm that is consistent with vitiligo, the same skin condition to which Jackson attributed his perpetually lightening skin.

"That looks like vitiligo," said Dr. Raymond Boissy, professor of Dermatology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and president of the National Vitiligo Foundation after seeing the vacation photos.

Though he said he cannot provide a diagnosis without examining Prince Michael directly, Boissy said "there are very few other dermatology issues that would render that spot so white."

In many cases, the appearance of de-pigmented lesions alone, especially in regions like the underarm, groin, and elbows, is sufficient evidence to diagnose vitiligo, says Caroline Le Poole, an associate professor of pathology at Loyola University who studies vitiligo.

Though no formal statement has been made by the family as to whether Prince Michael has the condition, these photos have prompted speculation that, like his father, who announced he had the condition in a 1993 Oprah Winfrey interview, Prince Michael suffers from vitiligo.

Given that vitiligo is a genetic disorder that can run in families, a diagnosis for Prince Michael would lend credence to Jackson's claim to be the biological father of the thirteen-year-old, Le Poole says.

"The odds of developing it spontaneously are around one percent, perhaps even less," she says, but those odds increase roughly tenfold when a parent or immediate family member has the condition.

A request for comment from Adam Stresian, attorney to Michael Jr.'s grandmother and guardian, Katherine Jackson, was not immediately returned.