The clinical efficacy of treatment using the autologous non-cultured epidermal cell suspension technique for stable vitiligo in 41 patients.

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation skin disorder mainly caused by the destruction of melanocytes. There are many therapeutic options available for vitiligo, but the options are not uniformly effective.Objectives: This study aimed to explore the clinical effect of the autologous non-cultured epidermal cell suspension (NCES) technique in the treatment of patients with stable vitiligo.Methods: A retrospective study of before-after comparisons was undertaken with 41 patients with stable vitiligo who received treatment with the NCES technique. The percentage of repigmentation area was evaluated using image analysis of the appearance before and 6-9 months after operation.Results: A total of 41 patients (18 males and 23 females) with a duration of clinical stability for ranging from 1 to 10 years (mean 1.6 ± 1.9) were included. The mean age was 20.2 years (range, 8-50) and 4 (9.8%) were children under the age of 14 years. After 6-9 months of follow-up, 80.5% (33/41) of the patients showed good response; among these patients, 17.1% (7/41) showed complete or almost complete repigmentation. Interestingly, all 4 children showed very good response (more than 76% repigmentation). There were no significant differences in the efficacy of treatment between the different transplantation areas of the facial neck, trunk, and distal limbs and there were no adverse effects such as infection or scar formation.Limitation: This study included only a single center with a small sample size.Conclusions: Our study shows that the NCES technique has a high therapeutic effect, is safe for patients with stable vitiligo, and may be a very promising potential option for treating children.

Secukinumab monotherapy successfully treated severe refractory type V (atypical juvenile) pityriasis rubra pilaris: A case report and literature review.

Pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) is a rare heterogeneous group of papulosquamous inflammatory disorders with unknown etiology. PRP is often resistant to many conventional therapies which has made more challenging on treatment. More recently, several studies have shown encouraging clinical results of secukinumab in the treatment of PRP in adult, but no studies have explored its effects in children. We herein report a 7-year-old boy with severe type V PRP responded rapidly to secukinumab monotherapy (150 mg once weekly) when conventional therapies have failed. The patient showed rapid and dramatic improvement of erythema, palmoplantar hyperkeratosis, scaling, and itching within only 5 weeks, with no adverse effects. Secukinumab could be considered as a treatment option for refractory PRP in children, as recently reported in adult.

Successful treatment of facial localized discoid lupus erythematosus with intralesional betamethasone: A report of three cases.

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) is a chronic autoimmune skin disease that usually causes disfiguring scarring, dyspigmentation, and atrophy. Despite a range of available topical and systemic therapies, the treatment of DLE remains a therapeutic challenge, especially in some refractory cases. Here, we reported three male patients with long-term chronic lesions of unilateral facial localized DLE, who failed to have their disease controlled with many previous topical/systemic treatments, showed rapid and well response to intralesional injections of betamethasone (2 mg/mL, 0.2 mL/site) monotherapy once every 2 weeks for two, two, and four times of treatment, respectively. Intralesional betamethasone may provide a safe and effective alternative in the management of refractory localized DLE skin lesions.