Treatment of vitiligo: current methods and new approaches

Vitiligo is an acquired idiopathic hypomelanotic disorder characterized by circumscribed depigmented maculae. It can be treated in many ways. The choice of therapy is individually adjusted depending on various factors, such as the patient age, type and stage of disease, and affected body site. Current treatment modalities include psoralen with exposure to ultraviolet A (PUVA) radiation therapy, narrow-band UVB therapy, topical corticosteroids, depigmentation therapy with monobenzylether of hydroquinone, and surgical treatments (minigrafting, thin split-thickness grafting, suction blister grafting, micropigmentation). There are also some new treatment modalities, such as 308-nm excimer laser, vitamin D analogues, tacrolimus, depigmentation with Q-switched ruby laser, and grafting of cultured melanocytes.