Cured tuberculoid patients have a greater life expectancy than cured lepromatous patients in Japan.
Leprosy patients lack specific cellular immunity against Mycobacterium leprae, but other immunological functions are thought to be preserved. However, in a leprosy sanatorium in South Japan between 1982 and 2000, we found that the average age at death of cured lepromatous leprosy patients was about 5 yrs younger than that of cured tuberculoid patients; [male/lepromatous, 76.0 +/- 10.0 yrs old vs. male/tuberculoid, 79.7 +/- 9.4 yrs old, p = 0.026], and [female/lepromatous, 78.0 +/- 10.5 vs. female/tuberculoid, 85.3 +/- 9.8, p = 0.0001]. This trend was also observed in autopsy records of two other leprosy sanatoria in Japan. In a prospective study based on their age in 1982, among females in the age group between 60 and 69, lepromatous patients (75.3 +/- 6.0 yrs) died earlier than tuberculoid patients (81.0 +/- 5.1 yrs) (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that lepromatous patients have higher risk of death even in a post-chemotherapy era.
Goto
Masamichi
M
Department of Pathology, Kagoshima University Faculty of Medicine, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan. masagoto@m2.fufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
Kitajima
Shinichi
S
Nomoto
Mitsuharu
M
Taki
Chiaki
C
Yonezawa
Suguru
S
Imaizumi
Masaomi
M
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015440:Leprosy, Lepromatous / Q000401:mortality*; D015441:Leprosy, Tuberculoid / Q000401:mortality*; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies