General Dermatology

Vitilo Grafting

Vitiligo is a skin pigment disorder in which a person develops lighter-than-normal patches on their skin. These non-pigmented blotches may appear as small spots, or as large patches on one or various parts of the body.It is a chronic skin disorder that causes areas of skin to lose colour. It presents as depigmented (white) patches. Exposed body sites, such as the face, elbows, knees, hands and feet, are often involved, resulting in significant cosmetic concerns. Vitiligo is usually treated with creams and tablets, or by phototherapy.

CAUSES:

• The skin doesn’t have its characteristic color because it has lost its melanin. For some reason, the pigment-forming cells known as melanocytes have been destroyed.
• We don’t know exactly why this happens. It might be an autoimmune condition, where your body’s defenses turn on your own cells instead of attacking invading germs.
• Although vitiligo affects all races equally, it’s more noticeable in dark-skinned people.

Symptoms:

• You’ll often lose pigment quickly on several areas of your skin. After the white patches appear, they may stay the same for a while, but later on, they might get bigger. You may have cycles of pigment loss and stability.
• Vitiligo commonly affects body folds (such as armpits), places that have been injured in the past, and areas exposed to sun, around moles, or around body openings. It can also affect eyelids and hair.
• It’s rare for pigment to return once the white patches have developed.

Diagnosis and Treatment:

• Your doctor can usually make a diagnosis of vitiligo by looking at your skin during a physical exam.
• There’s no known way to prevent or cure the condition. But you can improve the appearance of affected skin with cosmetics and corticosteroid creams. Your doctor can also try re-pigmenting the white skin using UV light therapy or lightening the skin in unaffected areas, or a skin graft.