NCT04858152

Hair Transplantation for Treatment of Vitiligo

Autologous Transplantation of Hair Follicles for the Treatment of Vitiligo on Glabrous Skin

• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 0 (actual)
• Sponsor: Mehdi Rashighi · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

There are several surgical methods to treat vitiligo patches, and follicular unit extraction (FUE) is one among them. FUE, performed using punch biopsy extraction and hair follicle transplantation, has proven safe and effective in multiple studies for treatment of hair bearing (non-glabrous) skin. This technique has not yet been trialed on hairless areas (glabrous skin) affected by vitiligo, such as the lips, fingertips, knuckles, wrists, and feet, which tend to be resistant to standard treatments. We suspect this technique will be successful in patients who have responded well to other therapies in all areas except for non-hair bearing areas.

Detailed description

Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin condition that can have a profound psychosocial impact on patients. Vitiligo is caused by an immune-mediated destruction of melanocytes, or the cells responsible for producing melanin, which gives the skin its pigment. There are safe and effective treatments for vitiligo, which should be selected based on disease subtype, the percentage of body surface area involved, patient preference, and the impact of the disease on a patient's quality of life. Treatment aims to stabilize depigmented lesions, reduce disease progression and stimulate repigmentation. The current therapies available include topical and systemic immunosuppressants, phototherapy and surgical techniques. The autologous transplantation of hair follicles has the ability to treat hairless areas by introducing follicular stem cells to an area of skin that would otherwise not respond to current treatment options. The potential to treat glabrous areas is of particular relevance for this technique, and the question proposed in this study is whether the same procedure of follicular hair transplant that has been previously safely and successfully used to treat segmental/stable vitiligo in hair bearing areas can applied to treat vitiligo in glabrous skin.

Conditions

• Vitiligo

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Follicular Unit Extraction via punch biopsy	Follicular unit extraction will be performed using standard 0.7mm - 1mm punch biopsies. The donor site, which will be selected as a vitiligo-free, hair-bearing area that is not visible per patient's preference, will be harvested via punch biopsies and transplanted to the recipient site, which will be the glabrous skin of the hands or feet.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-08-01
• Primary completion: 2022-08-15
• Completion: 2023-08-15
• First posted: 2021-04-26
• Last updated: 2023-05-24

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States