Surgical Management of Vitiligo

Book excerpt: Although vitiligo has traditionally been very difficult to treat, anew breakthrough surgical treatment is expanding options forpractitioners and patients. Standard treatments depend on the severity of the condition andthe patient's feelings of disfigurement. Cover-up cosmetics workwell for some people. Other more sophisticated forms of treatmentinclude gradually developing color back in the depigmented areas(repigmentation) by PUVA or other ultraviolet light treatments, butthis is extremely slow and intensive, often requiring severalhundred treatments. This new form of treatment, which involves surgicallytransplanting melanocytes into the white areas, is most successfulin patients with stable vitiligo over less than 30% of their bodysurface area. It complements medical therapies in achievingcomplete and sustained repigmentation and is rapidly gainingpopularity in all major centers. This is the first book available which describes this majoradvance in detail. Explains the new treatment of surgically transplantingmelanocytes into the affected areas of the skin to providedermatologists and surgeons with the latest state-of-the-artinformation Written by the international leaders who pioneered thistreatment Presents all the latest information on the topic, eliminatingthe need to search through multiple sources for specific data