Surgical Management of Leukotrichia

The document from 2006 discusses the surgical management of leukotrichia, a condition characterized by white hair within vitiligo patches, and indicates that it is a sign of disease refractoriness. It reports that the incidence of leukotrichia in vitiligo patients ranges from 11.5% to 44%, with higher rates in older individuals. The text explains the role of melanocyte stem cells in hair pigmentation and the repigmentation process, suggesting that surgical repigmentation can be effective when medical therapies fail. A series of nine patients treated surgically showed hair repigmentation as early as 2 months post-surgery, with results appearing permanent after up to 18 years of follow-up. Various surgical techniques, including dermabrasion, thin split-thickness skin grafting, epidermal grafting with PUVA therapy, in vitro cultured epidermal grafting, and minigrafting, have been used to repigment hair, with the best outcomes in the eyebrow area. The document concludes that surgical repigmentation of white hair is possible, but the mechanisms require further study, and long-term results have been observed to be permanent over 15 years.