A case series of pure neural leprosy in patients diagnosed in a specialized center for the control of Hansen’s disease in Colombia

Pure neural leprosy, defined as a peripheral neuropathy in which the patient has no skin lesions, is difficult to diagnose. Its verification by bacteriological index and histopathology is not possible in the majority of the patients. We describe four cases of pure neural leprosy diagnosed by clinica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biomédica
Main Authors: Héctor Serrano-Coll, Olinto Mieles, Calixto Escorcia, Amparo Díaz, Camilo Beltrán, Nora Cardona-Castro
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Spanish
Published: Instituto Nacional de Salud 2018
Subjects:
Leprosy
tuberculoid/diagnosis
therapeutics
case studies
Colombia
Medicine
R
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.v38i0.3690
https://doaj.org/article/1f2c6b03c7b34714a526b26dad45cf5c
Description
Summary:Pure neural leprosy, defined as a peripheral neuropathy in which the patient has no skin lesions, is difficult to diagnose. Its verification by bacteriological index and histopathology is not possible in the majority of the patients. We describe four cases of pure neural leprosy diagnosed by clinical criteria. The clinical outcome of three of the patients after specific treatment was satisfactory, while the other one developed progressive neural damage despite the therapy. All patients were treated in a specialized center for the management and control of Hansen’s disease in the municipality of Contratación, Santander, Colombia.

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