Body Hair Transplantation in Vitiligo
A 28-year-old male presented with multiple focal depigmented macules varying from 1 × 1 to 4 × 6 cm in size on the left shin, calves and both ankles [] since past 2 years. Leukotrichia was present. He had applied some Ayurvedic preparation (content not known), which led to phototoxicity resulting in focal scarring on shin. No new lesions were seen elsewhere in the body and the size of the lesions had remained stable for the past 1 years. No history of Koebner’s phenomenon was noted. A diagnosis of vitiligo was made based on the clinical findings. The patient was first started on phototherapy with good improvement, but the areas of scarring [] were not improving despite treatment for 6 months. Body hair transplant was suggested in the areas of scarring. Informed consent was taken. Donor hairs were harvested under aseptic conditions from the right upper thigh by follicular unit extraction (FUE) method [] using 0.8-mm punch under local anaesthesia. A total of 52 intact follicular units were extracted. Follicular units were simultaneously transplanted in directions of existing hairs [] using 19-g needle in the depigmented macules with 5-mm gap between the follicles. After implantation, the hair density was roughly 6-8 FU/cm2. Phototherapy was restarted in the recipient area after 1 week of the procedure. Perifollicular repigmentation in the vitiligo patch was seen at the end of weeks by the patient [], and complete pigmentation was achieved at 12 weeks with partial reversal of leukotrichia []. Colour matching was good, but superficial atrophy was still left because of previous scarring. There was no recurrence after 3 months of follow-up.