Original articleLong-term follow-up of patients undergoing autologous noncultured melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation for vitiligo and other leukodermas
Section snippets
Patient selection
A Henry Ford Hospital Institutional Review Board–approved (IRB No. 8391), retrospective review of electronic medical records was performed for all patients who underwent MKTP at our facility between January 2009 and April 2014. All patients for whom clinical information was available for at least 12 months after the procedure were included in the study.
Inclusion criteria for MKTP were stable vitiligo (focal/segmental vitiligo [SV] or nonsegmental vitiligo [NSV] without fingertip involvement) or
Patient characteristics
One hundred patients had 117 MKTPs performed on 236 ABLs between January 2009 and April 2014 (Fig 1). Many patients underwent treatment of multiple ABLs at a single MKTP session. Twelve patients (5 SV and 7 NSV) underwent 2 to 5 MKTPs involving the same or different ABLs. MKTP was performed on a broad ethno-racial population (white, 42%; South Asian, 33%; African-American, 10%; East Asian, 6%; Middle Eastern, 5%; and Hispanic, 4%). The face and neck comprised the majority of treated ABLs,
Discussion
Since debuting in the literature in 1992,1 noncultured, autologous MKTP has undergone sequential modifications to ultimately become a simpler, 2- to 4-hour outpatient procedure offering good repigmentation of leukodermas with a high degree of patient satisfaction (average satisfaction score, 8.5 of 10; zero = not at all, 10 = very much).4
Our study demonstrated the dynamic change in short-term (6 months) and long-term (>12 months) MKTP outcomes, based on a large number of cases and several types
Conclusions
MKTP is an excellent option for achieving long-term repigmentation in patients with vitiligo and other leukodermas. Although the majority of MKTP repigmentation occurs within the first 6 months, additional pigmentation can develop and persist until 72 months. It is possible that this long-term repigmentation could still be enhanced through the use of adjuvant treatments (before and/or after MKTP) and by adjusting the viable melanocyte concentrations in cell suspension. This study further
References (24)
- et al.
Vitiligo
Lancet
(2015) - et al.
Vitiligo is not a cosmetic disease
J Am Acad Dermatol
(2015) - et al.
Autologous grafting with noncultured melanocytes: a simplified method for treatment of depigmented lesions
J Am Acad Dermatol
(1992) - et al.
Melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation procedure in the treatment of vitiligo: the experience of an academic medical center in the United States
J Am Acad Dermatol
(2012) - et al.
Vitiligo is more than skin deep: a survey of members of the Vitiligo Society
Clin Exp Dermatol
(2010) - et al.
Long-term results of noncultured epidermal cellular grafting in vitiligo, halo naevi, piebaldism and naevus depigmentosus
Br J Dermatol
(2010) - et al.
Childhood vitiligo: a long-term study of localized vitiligo treated by noncultured cellular grafting
Pediatr Dermatol
(2010) - et al.
Noncultured epidermal suspension transplantation for the treatment of stable vitiligo in children and adolescents
Clin Exp Dermatol
(2011) - et al.
Treatment of vitiligo on difficult-to-treat sites using autologous noncultured cellular grafting
Dermatol Surg
(2009) - et al.
Repigmentation of vitiligo-associated leukotrichia after autologous, noncultured melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation
Int J Dermatol
(2013)
Uncommon responses of segmental vitiligo to melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation procedure
J Cutan Med Surg
Noncultured melanocyte/keratinocyte transplantation for the treatment of stable vitiligo on the face: report of two cases
An Bras Dermatol
Cited by (0)
This study was partially supported by the Shahani Foundation and Multicultural Dermatology Fund, Department of Dermatology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
Disclosure: Dr Hamzavi had served as a consultant for Johnson & Johnson, was an investigator for Johnson & Johnson, Ferndale Laboratories, Estee Lauder, and Allergan and had received honoraria from Allergan. Dr Lim had served as a consultant for Pierre Fabre and had received grants and research support from Estee Lauder, Ferndale Laboratories, and Allergan. Dr Griffith had served as an investigator for Ferndale Laboratories. Drs Silpa-Archa, Huggins, Henderson, Kerr, and Mulekar and Mr Jacobsen had no conflicts of interest to declare.
This study was presented as a poster presentation at the 23rd World Congress of Dermatology, Vancouver, Canada (June 2015). Contents of this manuscript have not been previously published and are not currently submitted elsewhere for publication.