Leprosy

Disease	Injury	Nutrition	Poison

Special Topic	Surgery	Symptoms	Test

Leprosy

Alternative Names:

Hansen's disease

Symptoms:

History of:

exposure or family members with leprosy
living or visiting areas of the world where leprosy is endemic (cases are known to occur in that area)

Symptoms include:

one or more hypopigmented skin lesions that have decreased sensation to touch, heat, or pain
skin lesions that do not heal after several weeks to months
numbness or absent sensation in the hands and arms, or feet and legs
muscle weakness resulting in signs such as foot drop (the toe drags when the foot is lifted to take a step)

Signs and tests:

Lepromin skin test can be used to distinguish lepromatous from tuberculoid leprosy, but is not used for diagnosis.
Skin scraping examination for acid fast bacteria (typical appearance of Mycobacterium leprae)

Review Date: 12/3/2001
Reviewed By: David N. Fisman, M.D., M.P.H., FRCP(C). Hamilton Department of Social and Public Health Services, and McMaster University Division of Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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