Primary neural leprosy: definition and management criteria
Keywords:
pure neural leprosy, primary neural leprosy, leprosy diagnosis, peripheral nervesAbstract
Pure neural or primary neural leprosy is a peripheral neuropathy. It is a clinical form of leprosy without cutaneous lesions or history of having had them. Lesions occur within neural trunks, which usually appear thickened. The skin innervated by them is hypo or anesthetic and if the affected nerve is a mixed one, there is hypotrophy or atrophy of the innervated muscles. Neural trunks most commonly affected are the ulnar, the common peroneal, the preauricular, and the median. Diagnosis is difficult, and the disease may go undiagnosed for years with progressive neural damage. To have proper criteria for the diagnosis and management of pure neural leprosy is necessary to avoid sequelae of this disease.
We here revise the clinical, histopathological, immunological, biomolecular and electroneuromyographic aspects of the disease, based on our experience, literature review and in the study of patients in the Sanatorio de Agua de Dios (Cundinamarca, Colombia), where the disease is prevalent. Our aim is that these concepts become useful for physicians engaged in the study of leprosy and in the National Program of Leprosy Control.
Author Biographies
Gerzaín Rodríguez
Grupo de Microbiología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la Sabana, Chía, Colombia
Rafael Pinto
Grupo de Microbiología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la Sabana, Chía, Colombia
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