Treating Vitiligo with Melanocyte Cultures

This interesting alternative produced excellent results in patients with resistant disease.

Many patients with vitiligo fail to repigment after ultraviolet light therapy. Surgical alternatives include skin grafts (split or punch) and cell culture implantation (keratinocytes with melanocytes or melanocytes alone). In this retrospective study from Taiwan, 120 patients with vitiligo resistant to ultraviolet light therapy underwent autologous melanocyte culture transplantation into some vitiliginous areas after epidermal stripping with a resurfacing CO₂ laser. No adjuvant ultraviolet therapy was administered. The melanocytes were obtained from suction blister roofs and were grown and expanded over several weeks.

Excellent results (90% to 100% repigmentation) were obtained in 84% of patients with stable localized vitiligo and in 54% of …

Reviewing Author

George J. Hruza, MD