Autograft Repigmentation of Leukoderma

In a Negro woman with long-standing leukoderma that followed a chemical burn, nine 1- and 2-mm diameter normal-skin autografts were transplanted into the leukodermic site. The grafts retained their pigment-forming capacity and showed temporary hyperpigmentation. The "pigment spread phenomenon" was evidenced by 1-mm wide zones of melanosis that developed around each autograft in the leukodermic skin. The melanotic annulus about the first autograft has thus far persisted for two years. The observations indicate donor autograft dominance in leukoderma in contradistinction to recipient site dominance in vitiligo.