Single hair grafting for the treatment of vitiligo.

BACKGROUND

Vitiligo is a disease of unknown cause, and many medical and surgical therapeutic methods are used to treat it.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of single hair grafting in patients with vitiligo.

METHODS

Single hairs were grafted into vitiliginous areas of 21 patients. The diameter of the spreading pigmentation was evaluated periodically.

RESULTS

Perifollicular repigmentation around the grafted hair was observed in 15 patients (71%) within 2 to 8 weeks. The diameter of the spreading pigmentation ranged from 2 to 10 mm during a 12-month follow-up period. In cases of generalized vitiligo, perifollicular pigmentation was seen in one of four patients (25%), whereas it was observed in 14 of 17 patients (82%) with localized/segmental vitiligo. Transformation of depigmented hairs into pigmented ones occurred in five patients.

CONCLUSION

Single hair grafting appears to be an effective method for treating localized/segmental vitiligo, especially on hairy parts of the skin, including the eyelids and eyebrows, and for small areas of vitiligo.