Abstract
Vitiligo is a common pigmentary disorder of the skin with a great amount of social stigma attached to it. Though various medical modalities are available for the treatment of stable vitiligo, surgical modality remains the treatment of choice for stable and localized vitiligo. The surgical options range from simple punch grafting to the recent epidermal harvesting methods using a negative pressure unit. Although successful use of multiple methods of epidermal grafting has been reported, most of them are cumbersome and time-consuming. The new automated epidermal harvesting system now commercially available involves a tool that applies both heat and suction concurrently to normal skin to induce epidermal micrografts. Hence it serves as a safe, quick and cost-effective method without anesthesia, with a very minimal downtime for healing and requires an optimal expertise. The duration of repigmentation seems to be faster and more uniform compared to other procedures. We would like to share our experience with the negative pressure epidermal harvesting method in a patient with stable vitiligo.
Highlights
Vitiligo is a common acquired skin disorder characterized by depigmentation of the skin
All forms of treatment for vitiligo aim at providing repigmentation either by stimulating or repopulating the melanocytes or targeting the immune mechanisms associated with the etiopathogenesis
Surgical treatment of vitiligo is beneficial especially in stable vitiligo and where the patients are recalcitrant to medical modalities of treatment
Summary
Vitiligo is a common acquired skin disorder characterized by depigmentation of the skin. Newer methods in skin grafting like the Autologous Negative Pressure Epidermal Harvesting (ANPEH) are based on the modified technique of suction blister grafting, using a sustained vacuum pressure and heat, which results in the formation of microdomes of the epidermis. It has been stable since with no further increase in size or no newer areas of depigmentation elsewhere in the body He had been applying topical steroids and tacrolimus 0.1% ointment for the past three years with not much improvement. The patient has been assessed for five months and will be on monthly follow-up for a period of 12 months and he is yet to receive more skin grafting for the surrounding vitiliginous patches using the negative pressure epidermal harvesting system
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