Histopathological study of apparently normal skin of patients with leprosy.
BACKGROUND
Several clinical and laboratory observations point to the possible microscopical affection of normal-looking skin in leprosy.


OBJECTIVE
This study was carried out to verify the microscopical affection of apparently normal-looking skin in different types of leprosy.


METHODS
The study included 50 patients with different clinical types of leprosy. Biopsies from both skin lesions and normal-looking skin were obtained from each patient and examined for microscopical evidence of leprosy.


RESULTS
Microscopical affection of normal-looking skin was detected in 52% of our cases, with higher incidence of affection towards the lepromatous end of the disease.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings underscore that the incidence of microscopical affection of normal-looking skin in leprosy is much higher on the lepromatous end of the spectrum of leprosy than on the tuberculoid end; during treatment, the leprosy granulomas may disappear from the normal skin before the clinical lesions. Moreover, the microscopic picture of indeterminate leprosy can be observed in the normal-looking skin of patients with tuberculoid leprosy or lepromatous leprosy, and this description appears not to be confined to the entity known as indeterminate leprosy.
Dermatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt. mohammad_eldarouti@yahoo.com
Mohammad A
MA
El-Darouti
Soliman
S
Hussein
Salonaz A
SA
Marzouk
Naglaa
N
Nabil
Nahla S
NS
Hunter
Duaa
D
Mahgoub
Nermine H
NH
El-Eishi
Mona R E
MR
Abdel-Halim
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015439:Leprosy, Borderline / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D015440:Leprosy, Lepromatous / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D015441:Leprosy, Tuberculoid / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D017192:Skin Diseases, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D013545:Sweat Glands / Q000473:pathology
D007917:Leprostatic Agents