Srinagar, Apr 24: The skin experts in Government Medical College here have revealed that 2.5 percent people in Valley were suffering from vitiligo skin disorder. 
“Vitiligo is one of the most common skin disorders and the cosmetic deformity caused by the disease has profound psychological impact on the patients, especially girls and women who are cosmetically more conscious. In Kashmir, 2.5 per cent people are suffering from the ailment,” Head Department of Skin and STD, Prof Qazi Masood told Greater Kashmir adding various factors were responsible for the disease including hereditary transmission. He said the Department had been receiving several vitiligo cases from across the length and breadth of Kashmir.
“From the last six years, we have been conducting surgeries on vitiligo patients and our success rate has been 95 per cent,” Prof Qazi Masood said, adding the patients whose disease remained static for a year and hadn’t spread were advised to go for the procedure.
He said the department was doing partial thickness skin grafting, suction blister grafting and punch grafting on patients depending upon the spread of disease and its location on body, adding in all these procedures patient was himself the donor of the skin graft.
Prof Qazi Masood said partial thickness skin grafting was done to treat the patients wherein vitiligo had to be covered in large area. “In this procedure, an appropriate donor site from the patient’s body is selected. The site should account for the size of the graft to be harvested and should get hide under cloth. The skin patch is removed and spread over the affected area,” he said, adding the procedure had high patient acceptability. 
He said the department was also doing suction blister grafting for patients having smaller patches on lips and face. “In this technique, epidermis is harvested from the donor site by using suction to raise a blister which is then transferred to the vitiliginous area,” Prof Qazi said adding punch grafting technique at places of lips, finger, toes and genital areas were also being performed by the medicos.
Prof Qazi said for people with vitiligo on more than 50 per cent on their bodies, de-pigmentation was the best option. “De-pigmentation involves adding the rest of the skin on the body to match the already white areas,” he said adding the procedure was irreversible and those undergoing it would be always abnormally sensitive to light.
He said the procedures were done free of cost in the department. “In privately run hospital, the doctors’ charge patients on the basis of per sittings which is Rs 4000-5000 per square-inch of the skin covered,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:30:00 Mecca time
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