Clinico-epidemiological and histopathological study of newly diagnosed leprosy patients at tertiary care center

Abstract

Leprosy, also well-known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease caused by . In spite of having been declared eliminated in December 2005 from India as a public health problem, India has still 60% of the entire global case load. This study entailed the epidemiological, clinical features and histopathological findings of new leprosy patients and assessing the current situation of leprosy at a tertiary level referral center in central India.A total of 60 Leprosy patients belonging to Ujjain and its adjoining districts attending the out patient Department of Dermatology at R.D Gardi Medical College, Ujjain (M.P.), over a period of 12 month i.e. Jan-2019 to Dec-2019 constituted the subject material for study. The data was analysed for Clinico-epidemiological and histopathological characteristics.Out of all leprosy outpatients, Maximum number of patient belonged to age groups of 21-40 years and 2 cases of childhood leprosy were recorded. Male preponderance with M: F ratio was 3:1. Family history was seen in 3 patients (5.0%). 73.3% patients hailed from rural area. Borderline Tuberculoid (19 patients) was commonest clinical presentation. The overall clinico-histopathological concordance observed was 75%.The present study gives a general picture about the current trends of Leprosy in this particular region and highlights the importance of both clinical & histopathological examination and determining parity between their findings. This study emphasizes the need of spread of awareness about the disease, facilities for investigation and early diagnosis.