The additive effect of excimer laser on non-cultured melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation for the treatment of vitiligo: a clinical trial in an Iranian population

BackgroundNon-cultured cellular grafting is specified for stable vitiligo treatment as a novel surgical technique, however, the additive effect of excimer laser on melanocytes-keratinocytes transplantation (MKT) have not experienced yet. ObjectiveTo assay the additive effect of excimer laser on MKT for the treatment of vitiligo in an Iranian population. Methods and materialsIn this non-randomized clinical trial, 39 patches were evaluated. Nine patches treated by MKT alone, 10 patches treated by MKT and excimer laser, 10 patches treated with excimer alone and 10 patches left without any treatments as control patches. ResultsIn the patches treated with excimer, the percentage reduction of depigmented area from baseline varied, ranging from 0 to 43.9%. In the nine patches treated with non-cultured MKT, the median percentage reduction of depigmented area from baseline was 15.9%. The median percentage reduction of depigmented area in excimer+MKT was 41.9% .In the untreated patches, the median percentage reduction of depigmented area was 0.1%. After controlling for the effect of depigmented area at baseline', significant reductions were observed in depigmented area of the patches treated with combination therapy of excimer and non-cultured MKT in comparison with the other therapies and untreated patches. ConclusionAlthough pigmentation in our patients was lower than previous reports from Iran and other countries, however, we signified adding excimer to MKT increased the pigmentation rate in treated patches. Further investigations are recommended with longer follow-up and larger series to validate the findings reported here.