BORDERLINE TUBERCULOID LEPROSY: CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF MULTIDRUG THERAPY

Efficacy of multi-drug therapy as per WHO recommendation in 125 fresh cases of borderline tuberculoid (BT) leprosy was evaluated. There were 116 (92.8%) male and 9 (7.2%) female patients. Age of the patients ranged from 18-50 years but the majority (80.8%) were young adults in the age group 21-35 years. The commonest site of lesion was the upper extremity in 65 (52%) cases. Skin smear for acid fast Mycobacterium leprae was positive in 11 (8.8%) patients. All patients were given multidrug therapy consisting of rifampicin 600 mg once a month and dapsone 100 mg daily for 6 months. At the end of 6 months, 42 (33.6%) patients had shown marked improvement, 14 (11.2%) had increase in activity, 51 (45.6%) had shown regression and 12 (9.6%) cases became clinically inactive. Histologically complete clearance of the infiltration was not observed in any patient. Compact granulomas persisted in 30 (24%) cases. In 1 (0.8%) patient M. leprae were found in the skin smear at the end of 6 months. This study indicates that treatment with MDT for 6 months is inadequate to treat all types of BT leprosy cases.