Total leucoderma: a rare manifestation of cutaneous chronic graft-versus-host disease

Abstract

We describe a 14-year-old boy who developed total leucoderma during the course of chronic graft-versus-host disease, which developed after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Skin biopsy and dihydroxy-phenylalanine staining revealed a total absence of melanocytes from the epidermis. Cytotoxic anti-melanocyte antibodies were found in the patient's serum, and this probably explains the development of the leucoderma.