Emerging Surgical Therapies for Vitiligo: Tissue vs Cell-Based Approaches

The document reviews emerging surgical therapies for vitiligo, focusing on tissue-based and cell-based approaches. Tissue transplantation methods like punch grafting and suction blister grafting are effective for localized lesions, while cell transplantation techniques, such as non-cultured epidermal cell suspension and cultured melanocyte transplantation, provide superior repigmentation uniformity for larger areas. A study of 41 patients showed a 34.1% excellent repigmentation rate, with all pediatric patients achieving over 76% repigmentation. The review suggests a negative correlation between CD8+ T cell count and repigmentation success, indicating it as a potential biomarker for surgical candidate selection. The integration of surgical advances with personalized medicine is emphasized for improving outcomes.