Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.
Browsing the news I stumbled across this March 2010 article on ScienceDaily -- Skin Transplant Offers New Hope to Vitiligo Patients. Though I know a little of vitiligo, I admit I had never heard of MKTP surgery. Interesting.
MKTP (melanocyt-keratinocyte-transplantation) surgery is performed in Europe, Asia and Middle East, but not commonly in the United States. The article noted Henry Ford Hospital is the first to perform the procedure in the U.S. and are using the same technique developed by MKTP pioneer Sanjeev Mulekar, M.D., of the National Vitiligo Center in Saudi Arabia.
MKTP involves harvesting melanocyte cells from an area of healthy skin and separating them to make a skin cell mixture. This mixture is then applied to the treatment area and covered with a specially developed adhesive biologic dressing. The procedure is done using local anesthesia.
Treated areas included the hands, arms, legs, feet, face and stomach. The average size of the treated area during each procedure covered an area of 46 sq cm, or roughly the size of a credit card.
More Information
Treatment of post-burn leucoderma with non-cultured melanocyte–keratinocyte transplantation (MKTP); Mulekar SV, Issa AA, Eisa AA; Burns, November 2010; doi:10.1016/j.burns.2010.08.014
I am considering this procedure for my son who has vitiligo on his face and chin. Excimer and ultraviolet light treatments have brought back a bit of pigmentation but it is fairly noticeable still.
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