Repigmentation of vitiliginous facial area after Q-switched Nd-YAG laser therapy for depigmentation: Is it a case of true reverse Koebner phenomenon in vitiligo?

Abstract

<span>The patients with universal vitiligo and residual pigmented patches </span><span>usually do not benefit from available repigmenting methods </span><span>and are better scheduled for depigmentation by medical, laser,</span><br /><span>and or freezing procedures. A 37-year-old lady with universal </span><span>vitiligo and remaining pigmentation in the left anterior chest </span><span>wall, both ventral forearms, and diffuse mottled depigmentation </span><span>of the face was scheduled for facial depigmentation by 532 </span><span>nm Q-switched Nd-YAG laser. All residual pigmented facial </span><span>areas were treated uniformly. Two months after laser therapy, </span><span>we paradoxically observed considerable repigmentation of the </span><span>treated areas with only some remaining scattered and round </span><span>depigmented patches. Through an unknown mechanism, a true </span><span>reverse Koebner phenomenon with its resultant repigmentation </span><span>rather than depigmentation was observed in our patient.</span>