Histopathology of human American cutaneous leishmaniasis before and after treatment

Chemical therapy for the treatment of leishmaniasis is still inadequate, and a number of drugs and therapeutic programs are being tested. Besides treatment, the ultimate goal is an effective cure, and histopathological analyses of the lesion cicatrices constitute an important measure of treatment success, or otherwise, in this respect. In this paper, we describe histopathological patterns in cases of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in 32 patients from the municipality of Caratinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil, before and after treatment with the following therapeutic methods: 1) leishvacin + glucantime; 2) leishvacin + BCG associated with glucantime; 3) glucantime; 4) leishvacin + BCG. Lesion fragments were collected from all patients by biopsy prior to, and approximately 30 days after, each treatment which resulted in a clinical diagnosis of cure. Following the analysis of slides, the preparations were described from a histopathological point of view and grouped taking into account the prevalence or significance of the characteristic elements. This process resulted in the following classification: 1. exudative reaction (ER); 2. exudative giant cell reaction (EGCR); 3. exudative productive reaction (EPR); 4. exudative productive giant cell reaction (EPGCR); 5. exudative productive necrotic reaction (EPNR); 6. necrotic exudative reaction (NER); 7. productive exudative reaction (PER), 8. productive giant cell reaction (PGCR); 9. productive exudative giant cell reaction (PEGCR); 10. productive exudative giant cell granulomatous reaction (PEGCGR); 11. productive reaction (PR) and 12. productive cicatricial (cure) reaction (PCR). After this analysis, it was noted that clinical cure did not always coincide with histopathological cure.