Single Hair Grafting for the Treatment of Vitiligo

In a study conducted 25 years ago, single hair grafting was evaluated as a treatment method for vitiligo, a disease that causes loss of skin color in patches. The study involved 21 patients, and single hairs were grafted into their vitiliginous areas. Results showed that 71% of the patients (15 out of 21) experienced perifollicular repigmentation around the grafted hair within 2 to 8 weeks. The diameter of the spreading pigmentation ranged from 2 to 10 mm during a 12-month follow-up period. The treatment was more effective in patients with localized/segmental vitiligo (82% or 14 out of 17 patients) compared to those with generalized vitiligo (25% or 1 out of 4 patients). The study concluded that single hair grafting could be an effective method for treating localized/segmental vitiligo, especially on hairy parts of the skin, and for small areas of vitiligo.