We, researchers of Vitiligo Room in clinical Institute, Pyongyang Medical College,
Vitiligo, an acquired achromia is characterized by localized depigmentation of skin, which results in cosmetic defect. Patients with vitiligo are subjected to great stress mentally and have trouble with cosmetic defect in family and social life.
Nowadays many medical and surgical therapies are used for the treatment of vitiligo, but none of them is clearly a satisfactory cure in the world. Autologous epidermal grafting is widely used as the most effective therapy of all surgical therapies for vitiligo. However the epidermis is implanted as small graft several times because technology that obtains blistered grafts by this method is limited and after implantation, PUVA therapy or exposure to UVB radiation must be combined for repigmentation around implanted area for a long time.
We have created new technology without scarring or side effects and that obtains more extensive blistered grafts than suction blister grafts before at one operation by performing scientific research work on firm Juche stand and have applied it to the treatment of thousands vitiligo patients from 1992 to 2015 year. Complete repigmentation rate was over 97%.
This operation method is registered to the achievement of state science and technology on Aug, 11, 2015.
Vitiligo is an chronic skin disease progressing continuously in life, changing between action and inaction of lesion. However, initial prevention of its spreading is a question of key importance to the treatment for vitiligo. However, therapies that can stop progress of vitiligo haven't reported up to now.
PUVA (psoralen plus ultraviolet A) is widely used as the main treatment for vitiligo, but can't stop progression of vitilignous lesions. PUVA therapy also can,t be applied safely to active vitiligo because it may become a factor causing progression of vitiligo. Furthermore, patients with active vitiligo may develop new lesions while the other old lesions are can be spreaded in using some drugs as well as simple contacts on the skin (a physical injury, chemical lesion, radiolesion and burn). Therefore, patients with active vitiligo can,t be treated actively but must be treated carefully.
Steroids therapies have been used for the prevention of spreading of vitiligo by some researchers. Sometimes the topical application of steroids has been effective for active vitiligo. However, treatment with systemic steroids can not be correct method because it may cause side effects in the appliance in the body for a long time. Probably, over 60% of vitiligo patients have had active disease.
We have created new method that can stop progressing of vitiligo without side effects to human body and have had good success appling it to treatment for active vitiligo. This method has been sent to special hospitals in our country, as a reference book for treatment of vitiligo from Ministry of Public Health.
With our collective wisdom and effort we have made new drug that hasn,t side effects like in drugs of psoralen series which are used primarily in the treatment for vitiligo. This drug has been conducted basic experiment and has had an effect on treatment of patients with vitiligo
Today, we have been progressing work continuously on vitiligo to be the first in the treatment of vitiligo in the world.
