This is the newest of all surgical vitiligo treatments. With this method, cells are derived from a healthy skin tissue. The outer layer of the patient’s healthy skin is harvested, and the cell extract from the healthy skin is extracted, then transplanted in the Vitiliginous patches. This procedure lasts between one and half to two hours and it involves an advanced technique which requires much knowledge and skill. Compared with other techniques, this method allows to treat relatively large body parts, and results appear better than when using other techniques. This method allows to treat difficult areas such as areas over a protruding bone, around the nipples, genitals, and wrists. In most cases, a single treatment is enough to bring back sufficient skin color, however the treatment may be repeated several times if needed.

Who is a suitable candidate for this technique?

1-Patients with specific affected areas involving less than 10% of the surface of the body.

2-Patients who do not develop vitiligo following a skin wound and whose wounds heal normally.

3-No vitiligo involvement in the fingertips.

4-No new spots on other skin areas in the last year.

5-Patients with a clinically-stable condition where existing spots haven’t enlarged in the past year.

This therapeutic technique has the highest chance of restoring pigment.

Re-pigmentation using this method varies between 60%-80% depending on the type of vitiligo. Each procedure can treat up to 100 square centimeters of affected skin. Repeated procedures can be done especially in patients with large affected areas. This method is advantageous in that by harvesting a small area of the healthy skin we can treat a large area of vitiliginous skin. In fact, this technique allows to treat a skin area up to ten times bigger than the harvested site. For example, with 10 square centimeters of healthy skin we can produce enough pigment to treat an affected area of up to 100 square centimeters. In most cases, this treatment can be completed in one session. It does not require hospitalization and at the end of the procedure the patient is sent home.