Pigment reduction in nevus of Ota following leech therapy

Nevus of Ota is a congenital blue-gray color nevus afflicting unilaterally, the area near the eyes. It poses a huge cosmetic concern besides being a potential threat for developing melanoma sometime in the course of the disease. The treatment options are neither many nor promising besides they are too expensive. We have treated a case of nevus of Ota with leech therapy where leech was applied upon the lesion for five times spanned in a period of 2 months. The results in terms of change in the color of lesion were evaluated with the help of serial photographs following every treatment session to mark the level of color changes in the lesion. A substantial reduction in color of the nevus was reported following the completion of the therapy. The results were demonstrated with the photographs. Although, recommended as the classical Ayurvedic management for skin diseases, leech therapy is not reported earlier in such conditions. It proposes a novel approach to deal with such congenital pigment lesions where other options are not promising.