There are diverse skin manifestations of both leprosy and syphilis. These diseases can appear similar to many other dermatologic conditions as well as to systemic diseases with dermatologic signs. Nodular syphilis is an uncommon type of secondary syphilis. We present here a person from a leprosy-endemic area with diffuse nodular skin lesions of secondary syphilis who was initially suspected of having lepromatous leprosy.

Leprosy is one of the causes of gynaecothelia (enlargement of nipples), however little has been published about this common but usually ignored sign. Herein, we report nine male patients with multibacillary leprosy who had gynaecothelia although only two of them had associated gynaecomastia. None of these patients was aware of gynaecothelia until it was detected by the treating doctor during examination. This study is presented to highlight this common but ignored sign, which may occur specifically in multibacillary leprosy.

Lepromatous leprosy is a multisystem disease that can involve many organ systems, with lymph nodes a common extra-cutaneous site to be affected. Rarely, multibacillary leprosy can be confused with other diseases like lymphomas and connective tissue diseases. Herein we report a patient of lepromatous leprosy with Type II lepra reaction involving lymph nodes who presented with generalised lymphadenopathy, acquired ichthyosis and constitutional symptoms but no cutaneous lesions to suggest erythema nodosum leprosum, and who was initially misdiagnosed as a case of Hodgkin's lymphoma

To Study the incidence and clinical characteristics of dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome (DHS) among MDT-treated leprosy patients from 2006 to 2009 in China.A retrospective survey was carried out throughout China using a specially designed questionnaire.From 2006 to 2009, there were 63 new patients reported to have DHS with an incidence of 1.0%. Among these patients, 13 were complete types of DHS, the others were incomplete ones. The average age of patients with DHS was 38 years and the male to female ratio was 2.15. The average incubation period from taking dapsone to DHS onset was 32.8 days (2-6 weeks). There were 60 (95.2%) patients who presented with various skin lesions, 56 (88.9%) with fever, 40 (63.5%) with hepatic damage and 22 (34.9%) with lymphopathy. Seven patients died with a death rate of 11.1% among all patients with DHS.DHS is a serious adverse event resulted from dapsone. It can occur in a small number of new leprosy patients treated with dapsone containing regimen. Some patients may die of DHS if not taking timely and adequate management. Therefore local doctors should pay an attention to DHS among leprosy patients newly treated with the dapsone-containing MDT regimen.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is one of the most commonly encountered sleep disorders. The prevalence of RLS and its association'with leprosy have not previously been elucidated. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of RLS in people affected by leprosy and to determine the presence and amount of sleep disruption in leprosy affected people with RLS.Each leprosy-affected person was matched to two healthy controls for age and sex. A total of 236 leprosy-affected people who lived in Sorokdo and 472 healthy control subjects who lived in Namwon were included in this study. A diagnosis of RLS and a severity assessment were made using the criteria described by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group.The prevalence of RLS was significantly higher in people affected by leprosy (60/236; 25.4%) than in controls (42/472; 8.8%). Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) global score was higher in leprosy-affected people than in controls. No significant difference was found between leprosy-affected people and controls with regard to the severity of RLS. Leprosy-affected people with RLS had a poorer sleep quality (higher PSQI global score) than those without RLS, but the Geriatric Depression Scale was not different between leprosy-affected people with RLS and those without RLS.The frequency of RLS among leprosy-affected people was significantly higher than that of RLS in the general population. Leprosy-affected people should be examined for RLS and treatment for RLS can potentially improve sleep.

WHO guidelines classify leprosy patients clinically into PB and MB group based on the number of skin lesions (NSL) with > or = 6 skin lesions as a criterion for MB leprosy. Other clinical criteria for classification are based on the number of body areas affected (NBAA) and on size of the largest skin lesions (SLSL). They are also fairly simple and easily practicable in the field.The objective of this study is to explore whether sensitivity and specificity of the WHO classification can be improved by addition of clinical criteria based on NBAA and SLSL to WHO classification.Among 100 newly diagnosed untreated leprosy patients classified into PB and MB group according to WHO classification, the NSL and NBAA were recorded and the size (longest diameter) of largest skin lesion was measured in centimeters. The Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted for each parameter to find the best cut off point (with highest sensitivity and specificity).The sensitivity and specificity of the WHO classification tested, using slit-skin smear (SSS) and skin biopsy results as the gold standard, was found to be 63% and 85% respectively. The ROC curve for NSL found the best cut off of three and more lesions for MB group (sensitivity 90% & specificity 80%). Similarly, ROC curves for NBAA and SLSL found the best cut off points for classification into MB group to be two or more (sensitivity 90% & specificity 75%) and 5 cm or more (sensitivity 87% and specificity 65%) respectively. On combining all these criteria together sensitivity was increased to 98.5% with no significant change in specificity, which was 77.5%.The study concluded that the sensitivity of the present clinical classification can be further improved by addition of two other clinical criteria.

To provide an evidence base for improvement of leprosy control in Brazil's high transmission areas.We obtained data from municipalities in a major disease cluster from databases for notifiable diseases of four states (Maranhão, Parâ, Tocantins, Piauí), including notifications from 2001 to 2009. Indicators for monitoring and evaluation of leprosy according to the World Health Organization were evaluated with emphasis on the rates of new cases presenting grade-2 disabilities and among children < 15 years of age, indicating late diagnosis and active transmission, respectively.A total of 82,463 leprosy cases were detected in the area (mean annual case detection rate: 95.9/100,000; RR = 4.56 as compared to the rest of Brazil; 95% CI: 4.45-4.66, P < 0.0001). There was a steady decrease of detection rates in the study period, from 100.8 to 75.6/100,000 inhabitants. In children <15 years of age, 9,009 cases of leprosy were detected (28.40/100,000), significantly more than in the rest of Brazil (RR = 5.80; 95% CI: 5.39-6.25, P < 0.0001). New cases with grade-2 disabilities/100,000 population maintained a stable trend at a high level (4.43 cluster vs. 1.28 rest of country; RR = 3.46; 95% CI: 3.11-3.84, P < 0.0001), whereas the proportion of new cases with grade-2 was slightly lower than the country's average (5.51% vs. 6.75%; RR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.81-0.86, P < 0.0001).Despite recently improved leprosy control measures, there is still major active transmission and late diagnosis in the cluster. Further specific actions are needed to improve early case detection and prompt treatment with the aim to reduce disease burden in the population, considering social inequities.