RESUMO
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tap water iontophoresis in the treatment of severe idiopathic palmar hyperhidrosis, nine Chinese patients with severe palmar hyperhidrosis that had failed to respond to topical aluminium chloride were given 6 weeks' treatment with tap water iontophoresis at the Social Hygiene Service, Department of Health, Hong Kong. The reduction in sweat output was assessed objectively and subjectively. The mean objective reduction in sweat output was 49%, 51%, 26%, and 22% at week 3, 6, 10, and 12, respectively, since the start of treatment with tap water iontophoresis The mean subjective improvements were 43%, 59%, 30%, and 12% at week 3, 6,10, and 12, respectively. The side effects reported were all mild and transient. We conclude that tap water iontophoresis is a safe and useful treatment modality for palmar hyperhidrosis.
RESUMO
We report our experience of autologous epidermal transplantation for three patients with vitiligo. The vitiligo in two patients was stable whereas that in the third was active. Autologous epidermal transplantation using suction blister roofs from normally pigmented skin was performed following the failure to repigment skin using topical steroid and/or psoralen-ultraviolet A treatment. Grafts were well taken in all three patients. Satisfactory repigmentation was noted in the two patients who had stable vitiligo; there were no complications except for mild hyperpigmentation at the donor areas. For the patient who had active vitiligo, depigmentation of the graft and concomitant Koebner's phenomenon at the donor site were observed 3 weeks after the procedure. We conclude that autologous epidermal transplantation using the roofs of suction blisters is an excellent and safe repigmenting procedure for stable, localised vitiligo and that active disease precludes transplantation.
