Repeated tissue sampling with a dental broach. A trial in cutaneous leishmaniasis

A simple and almost painless technique for repeated sampling of dermal infiltrates with a dendritic broach was used in the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis. This technique can be used to advantage to obtain organisms and cell underneath crusted lesions and to evaluate not only the number of organisms but also the cell pattern at different depths of the lesion. It can be used repeatedly on the same lesions without appreciably disturbing the natural progress of the disease and is therefore well suited to monitor the in vivo effects of therapeutic agents on organisms. Its use in twenty-one cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and one case of cutaneous leprosy is described.