Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis in the Sudan: peripheral neural involvement.
Four patients developed post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis and neuritis (PKDL) 1 to 6 months following apparently successful treatment of kala-azar. The duration of the lesion varied between 1 month and nearly 5 years. The lesions were macules, papules, or nodules affecting the face, extremities, and trunk. The diagnosis was made by demonstration of the parasite in slit smear and biopsies and by a positive direct agglutination test (DAT). Histologically, the patients were found to have neuritis affecting the cutaneous nerves in the lesion only. The nerves showed a lymphohistiocytic infiltration and occasionally parasites. There was no impairment of sensation. Response to sodium stibogluconate was good. PKDL may simulate leprosy both clinically and pathologically.
Elhassan
A M
AM
Leishmania Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, Khartoum, Sudan.
Ali
M S
MS
Zijlstra
E
E
Eltoum
I A
IA
Ghalib
H W
HW
Ahmed
H M
HM
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D007918:Leprosy / Q000175:diagnosis; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009443:Neuritis / Q000209:etiology*; D013997:Time Factors