Background and aim: Noncultured cellular grafting is an advanced surgical technique for treatment of vitiligo refractory to conventional therapy. The aim of our study was to evaluate the long-term results of vitiligo patients who underwent noncultured cellular grafting at our centre over a 3-year period.
Methods: Medical records were reviewed for clinico-epidemiological characteristics and repigmentation data. Repigmentation of vitiligo was based on clinical assessment and standardized digital photography and was graded as “poor”, “fair”, “good” and “excellent”, corresponding to 25% intervals on a scale of 0-100% repigmentation.
Results: There were 83 patients (46 females, 37 males) with a mean age of 35 years and 89% were Fitzpatrick skin type IV. Mean duration of vitiligo prior to grafting was 100 months. Forty-nine patients (59%) had non-segmental, 33 (40%) had segmental and 1 had mixed vitiligo. A total of 112 grafting sessions were performed. Of these, 90 were primary, 21 were repeated and there was 1 staged grafting. The most commonly grafted sites were face (49%), trunk (17%) and neck (11%). Good to excellent repigmentation was seen in 58%, 64%, 71% and 68% of patients at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-month follow-ups respectively. In the face and neck subgroups, more than 70% achieved good to excellent repigmentation at 12 months, compared to only 50% in the scalp and acral subgroups. More patients with segmental vitiligo (83%) achieved good to excellent repigmentation at 12 months compared to non-segmental vitiligo (64%). Loss of initially achieved repigmentation occurred in 7 patients (8%) due to active disease. No patients experienced significant scarring or adverse reactions.
Conclusion: Noncultured cellular grafting is a safe procedure. More than 70% had good to excellent repigmentation at 12 months, with most patients achieving maximal repigmentation by then. Better repigmentation rates were seen on the face, neck and in segmental vitiligo.