Topical tacrolimus is useful for avoiding suction-blister epidermal grafting depigmentation in non-segmental vitiligo: a case report.

© 2012 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/00015555-1224 Journal Compilation © 2012 Acta Dermato-Venereologica. ISSN 0001-5555 Current therapy for vitiligo is largely unsatisfactory; hence there is a need for new treatment combinations to be assessed. Whereas stable vitiligo can benefit from surgical therapies, such as suction-blister epidermal grafting (SBEG) (1), the non-segmental counterpart usually shows a poor response to this treatment (2). To overcome this issue, for high-risk patients affected by both focal and generalized vitiligo, a combined approach of epidermal graft and systemic corticosteroids has been advocated in order to reduce the risk of graft depigmentation (3, 4). We report here the case of a patient affected by generalized vitiligo who was treated successfully with SBEG after a prolonged course of topical 0.1% tacrolimus treatment (Protopic, Astellas Pharma US, Inc.). It is noteworthy that maintaining topical tacrolimus treatment allowed and preserved graft pigmentation for more than one year, whereas, after its discontinuation, graft depigmentation began to develop.