Treatment of periungual vitiligo with erbium-YAG-laser plus 5-flurouracil: a left to right comparative study

Despite the multiple treatment modalities available for vitiligo, none of them gives satisfactory results in the periungual type. In this study we tried to explore and evaluate the effects of the combination treatment of erbium:YAG laser resurfacing and topical 5-flurouracil in periungual vitiligo. Nine adult patients presenting with periungual vitiligo lesions were included in this prospective left-right comparative study. The desirable inflammation was achieved after a mean of 4.7 days of 5-flurouracil application. The mean re-epithelization time in the treatment sessions was 11.3 days. The patients received a mean of 3.4 sessions in a mean duration of 7.6 months. The mean overall response to therapy in the treated group was 47.8% while in the control group it was 1.1% (P < 0.0001). No side effects necessitated the stoppage of treatment. This study points to the efficacy and safety of this combination in the treatment of periungual vitiligo.