LASER TREATMENT FOR FURTHER DEPIGMENTATION IN VITILIGO

Background In patients with vitiligo, sometimes the greatest part of t he skin has already lost its melanocytes. The remaining pigmented patc hes can be removed by using strong bleaching creams, but many adverse events have been reported with this treatment. A new depigmentation th erapy could be treatment with a Ruby laser. Methods Before treatment, the patients fillied out a questionnaire about their vitiligo history, Eight patients with remaining pigmentation of the arms, hands, and fa ce were treated once with a Ruby laser. Patients were monitored for de veloping repigmentation during the 9 months after treatment. Results i n patients with a positive Koebner phenomenon, a permanent state of de pigmentation was reached after laser therapy. None of the treated pati ents showed severe side-effects. Conclusions Ruby laser treatment can be an effective, fast, and safe method for removing cosmetically distu rbing remnants of normal pigmentation in vitiligo patients with a posi tive. Koebner phenomenon.