Electrocardigraphic study at the National Leprosarium Kuryu Rakusen-en on the high land, Gunma, Japan (author's transl)

Abstract

Historical review of chemotherapy in the treatment of leprosy reveals a gradual transfer from a purely empirical approach to a more rational one.1)2) A long and futile search for anti-leprosy agents has at last given rise to an extensive and systematic research method, which, in turn, led to the discovery of the present standard drug3)4)5)6), resulting in having brought about essentially quantitative and qualitative changes not only to leprosy therapy but also to the leprosy patients themselves.As a result, the leprosy patients in Japan have become possible to live so far as advancing age, having increasing elderly diseases, especially circuratory ones. In the standpoint of the above-mentioned fact, an electrocardiographic study was performed on 42 leprosy patients, the following results being obtained.1) Neither congenital affections of the heart nor idiopathic myocardosis was found.2) The abnormal electrocardiographic findings seemed to be subject to the age, blood pressure and type of the disease.3) It seemed that there was relationship between the abnormal electrocardiographic findings and nervous injury.4) The most remarkable findings were changes of STsegment and Twave.5) The cases with nothing but right, left and bilateral ventricular hypertrophies were little found.6) The cardiopathy should not be diagnosed only by means of electrocardiograms.The other primary aim of this report is not impart knowledge but to increase understanding for the purpose of formulating rational and consistent attitudes and approaches to the problems as a whole and provide the basically necessary foundations on which future studies may proceed and on which treatment may be integrated most effectively into the program for the leprosy patients here who will be more and more aged.16)