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.
El-Darouti
Mohammad A
MA
Dermatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt. mohammad_eldarouti@yahoo.com
Hussein
Soliman
S
Marzouk
Salonaz A
SA
Nabil
Naglaa
N
Hunter
Nahla S
NS
Mahgoub
Duaa
D
El-Eishi
Nermine H
NH
Abdel-Halim
Mona R E
MR
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