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SINGAPORE : Help is on the way for patients of Vitiligo, a disease that causes loss in pigmentation, resulting in pale patches on the skin.
The National Skin Centre has come up with a new surgical technique that is safer and more effective.
Vitiligo affects about one percent of the people in Singapore. It can start at any age and can cause distress, social embarrassment and depression.
So the National Skin Centre's new treatment method came as good news to Vitiligo sufferers like 'Borra'.
He is one of 33 patients who has been treated using this procedure, and among the 75 percent who achieved good to excellent repigmentation as a result of it.
'Borra' said: "I'm happy about this treatment because I felt that I will never be cured. But after getting this treatment, it has shown 100 percent results."
The National Skin Centre is the first institution in South East Asia to offer this treatment.
The "non-cultured cellular grafting" technique is found to be safer and less costly than conventional grafting methods, and can be completed in three to four hours.
Using this method, only a 1:10 ratio of skin is needed to be harvested to treat the area.
Dr Goh Boon Kee, Consultant Dermatologist, National Skin Centre, said: "The advantage of this cellular grafting technique is that you need only a very small area of donor skin to cover large areas of Vitiligo. So for 20cm2 size of donor skin, you can cover potentially up to 200cm2 of vitiligo skin."
Furthermore, repigmentation can be seen as early as four weeks.
The procedure, however, is not for everyone. It is only recommended for those who are 16 and above, whose Vitiligo is stable and who have failed to respond to the conventional treatments like creams or phototherapy. - CNA/ms
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