Vitiligo Surgery & Melanocyte Transplantation

Vitiligo is a chronic skin condition characterized by the progressive loss of melanocytes — the cells responsible for producing melanin pigment — resulting in well-defined white patches on the skin. Affecting approximately one to two percent of the global population, vitiligo can appear at any age and on any part of the body, though it is most noticeable on the face, hands, arms, and areas around body openings. The condition is believed to be primarily autoimmune in origin, with the body's immune system mistakenly attacking and destroying its own melanocytes, though genetic predisposition, oxidative stress, and environmental triggers also contribute.

Medical treatment for vitiligo includes topical corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors, phototherapy (narrowband UVB), and systemic immunomodulators. These treatments work best for active, spreading vitiligo. However, when vitiligo has been stable — showing no new patches or expansion of existing patches — for at least one to two years and has not responded adequately to medical therapy, surgical intervention offers the most effective route to repigmentation. Surgical options include split-thickness skin grafting, punch grafting, suction blister grafting, and non-cultured epidermal cell suspension (melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation), each suited to different patch sizes and locations.

Dr. Amit Agrawal at Amit Aesthetics in Aligarh evaluates each vitiligo patient thoroughly to determine candidacy for surgical treatment. Using melanocyte transplantation techniques, he harvests healthy pigment cells from a normally pigmented donor site and transplants them to the depigmented areas, where they repopulate and gradually restore natural skin color. This approach achieves excellent repigmentation rates — typically 70 to 90 percent coverage — in properly selected candidates with stable disease.