Vitiligo: repigmentation with cultured melanocytes after cryostorage

We have developed a technique through which we can multiply melanocytes in culture from a small specimen of normally pigmented buttock skin and reimplant them into depigmented sites of vitiligo. To date, 90 patients have benefited in our hands from such autologous transplantation of pigment cells. Often we have an excess of cells which we would like to store for later use in the event a patient requires further treatment. We report here on 4 cases in which we have cryostored cultured melanocytes for 6-12 months, reimplanted them into vitiliginous sites of the donor after one week of reculture, and obtained optimal repigmentation. We now routinely freeze melanocytes left over after treatment.