Clinical aspects of leprosy

Abstract Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae . It mainly affects the peripheral nervous system, skin, and certain other tissues such as the reticulo-endothelial system, bones and joints, mucous membranes, eyes, testes, muscles, and adrenals. Leprosy clinical prese...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinics in dermatology 2015, Vol.33 (1), p.26-37
Main Authors: Talhari, Carolina, MD, PhD, Talhari, Sinésio, MD, PhD, Penna, Gerson Oliveira, MD, PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brazil
Communicable Diseases - drug therapy
Communicable Diseases - epidemiology
Communicable Diseases - physiopathology
Dermatology
Disease Progression
Female
Humans
Leprostatic Agents - therapeutic use
Leprosy - drug therapy
Leprosy - mortality
Leprosy - physiopathology
Leprosy, Borderline - drug therapy
Leprosy, Borderline - epidemiology
Leprosy, Borderline - physiopathology
Leprosy, Lepromatous - immunology
Leprosy, Lepromatous - physiopathology
Leprosy, Tuberculoid - immunology
Leprosy, Tuberculoid - physiopathology
Male
Monitoring, Physiologic
Mycobacterium leprae - immunology
Mycobacterium leprae - isolation & purification
Prognosis
Risk Assessment
Severity of Illness Index
Survival Rate
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Summary:Abstract Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae . It mainly affects the peripheral nervous system, skin, and certain other tissues such as the reticulo-endothelial system, bones and joints, mucous membranes, eyes, testes, muscles, and adrenals. Leprosy clinical presentation varies from few to widespread lesions. In most patients, early leprosy presents as macular and hypopigmented lesions. This initial clinical presentation is known as indeterminate leprosy and occurs in individuals who have not developed cell-mediated immunity against M leprae yet. The number of lesions depends on the genetically determined cellular immunity of the patient. Individuals presenting a vigorous cellular immune response and limited humoral immune responses to M leprae , usually present few skin lesions. Without treatment, those patients tend to evolve into the polar tuberculoid or borderline tuberculoid form of leprosy. Due to the inability to mount an effective cellular-mediated response to M leprae and the consequent hematogenous spread of the bacilli, some patients may present with numerous and symmetrically distributed hypochromic lesions. Without treatment these patients evolve to a nonresistant form of leprosy, polar lepromatous.
ISSN:0738-081X
1879-1131
DOI:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2014.07.002