Revisiting primary neural leprosy: Clinical, serological, molecular, and neurophysiological aspects.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Leprosy neuropathy is considered the most common peripheral neuropathy of infectious etiology worldwide, representing a public health problem. Clinical diagnosis of primary neural leprosy (PNL) is challenging, since no skin lesions are found and the slit skin smear bacilloscopy is negative. However, there are still controversial concepts regarding the primary-neural versus pure-neural leprosy definition, which will be explored by using multiple clinical-laboratory analyses in this study.

Methodology/principal findings

Seventy patients diagnosed with primary neural leprosy from 2014 to 2016 underwent clinical, laboratorial and neurophysiological evaluation. All patients presented an asymmetric neural impairment, with nerve thickening in 58.6%. Electroneuromyography

SUBMITTER: Santos DFD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5720806 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature