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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Murine Full-thickness Skin Transplantation
Published on: January 2, 2017
Vitiligo following a combined liver-kidney transplant
Victoria Bradley1, Elizabeth Helen Kemp, Claire Dickinson
1Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, University of Sheffield, UK.
Abstract:
We report an Afro-Caribbean male who developed vitiligo 10 days following a combined liver-kidney transplant from a Caucasian donor. Neither the donor nor the recipient had any previous history of vitiligo, nor of autoimmunity. The depigmentation gradually resolved by 8 weeks post-transplant with topical corticosteroids and standard maintenance immunosuppression. We propose that the skin depigmentation occurred due to the destruction of melanocytes by donor-derived alloreactive cytotoxic T-lymphocytes or antibody transferred during transplantation. Although vitiligo has been described in patients receiving allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for haematological malignancy, there are no previous reports of vitiligo post-solid organ transplantation.
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