DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY
The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Vol. 20, No. 10
THE JOHNS HOPKINS MICROBIOLOGY NEWSLETTER
Tuesday, March 6, 2001
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Provided by Leslie Edwards Reger, Division of Outbreak Investigation,
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
No information reported
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The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Information provided by Bahram Robert Oliai
M.D., Department of Pathology.
Case Report: The patient is a 29 year old Indian woman with
an approximately six month history of worsening numbness and pain. She
reported that her symptoms started with mild parathesias of the left hand
and blister like sores. These symptoms resolved for a short period and
recurred with tingling and numbness of the left index finger. At this point
she sought treatment (in India). Physical examination was additionally
significant for several areas of discoloration on the right foot. A biopsy
was performed to rule out leprosy which was read as negative, however given
her clinical presentation she was started and maintained on anti-lepromatous
therapy (Dapsone 100 mg q.d., Hanispran q.o.d., and Rifampin q 15 days).
During her course of treatment she suffered several adverse reactions including
hyperpigmentation, malaise, poor appetite, weight loss, and rash. In addition
she developed increasing numbness in the right and left hands. Subsequently
she referred herself to The Johns Hopkins Hospital for evaluation and further
treatment. Physical examination was most significant for two well demarcated
areas of hypopigmentation on the right foot and a hyperpigmented rash,
most prominent on the right ankle. Neurologic examination demonstrated
a profound sensory loss in the left hand with a relative sparing of the
thumb and a decrease in sensation to pinprick in the ulnar distribution
of the right hand. Palpable, ropey, peripheral nerves were noted, especially
prominent at the left elbow. Her clinical presentation was thought to be
consistent with tuberculoid leprosy and a biopsy was performed of the right
sural nerve. Microscopic examination demonstrated marked granulomatous
inflammation. Stains for acid fast bacilli were negative.
Mycobacterium leprae/Hansen’s Disease
Organism: The causative mycobacterium of leprosy is Mycobacterium
leprae. It is an obligate intracellular organism, multiplies very slowly,
and has yet to be cultivated successfully in vitro. M. leprae grows
best at 27-30 degrees C, hence its predilection for peripheral nerves and
skin in the cooler parts of the body. Worldwide registered cases have fallen
from 5.4 million (1985) to approximately 1 million. The majority of cases
are in developing countries with the highest numbers in India and Brazil.
In the United States most cases involve patients who have lived in foreign
countries, however Hansen’s Disease is endemic in Texas, Hawaii, Louisiana,
and California. M. leprae is found in wild armadillos in the south-central
United States. Transmission is most probably via the respiratory route
since the nasal discharge from patients with untreated multibacillary Leprosy
often contains large numbers of bacilli. Cases due to exposure to infected
armadillos have occurred.
Clinical Manifestations: Standard nomenclature divides cases
into five groups based on clinical, histopathologic, and immunologic findings:
tuberculoid, borderline tuberculoid, borderline, borderline lepromatous,
and lepromatous. The tuberculoid form of disease is most common in those
with a vigorous immune response. In these patients infection is limited
to a few places in the skin and peripheral nerves, manifesting with 1-6
erythematous plaques with sharp borders on the face, trunk, or extremities.
These plaques are hairless, dry, and hypoesthetic. The number of bacteria
in these lesions is low and they are therefore referred to as paucibacillary.
Nerves may be palpably thickened secondary to inflammation in tuberculoid
Hansen’s Disease (see Figure 1). Common nerves affected include: the great
auricular nerve, common peroneal nerve, ulnar nerve, radial cutaneous nerve
and the median nerve. At the other end of the spectrum, patients with minimal
cellular immune response have lepromatous disease. Skin involvement is
extensive with numerous bilateral macules and papules. The bacteria can
infect the nasal mucosa resulting in stuffiness, discharge, epistaxis,
and destruction of the nasal cartilage. Diffuse infiltration of the skin
with bacteria results in the classic leonine facies (see Figure 2). Unusual
presentations include erytema nodosum like leprosum (similar to erythema
nodosum) and a form of lepromatous disease reported primarily in Mexican
patients with diffuse infiltration and thickening of the skin, loss of
eyebrows and body hair, and a necrotizing vasculitis termed "Lucio’s phenomenon."

Figures 1 (left) and 2 (right). Figure 1 shows nerve thickening
in tuberculoid leprosy (arrow, great auricular nerve). Figure 2 shows the
"leonine facies" of lepromatous leprosy. From Forbes CD, Jackson WF. A
Color Atlas and Text of Clinical Medicine. Wolfe Publishing, Aylesbury,
England, 1st ed, 1993, pp. 49-50.
Diagnosis: A skin lesion that is hypoesthetic, hairless, or dry
should raise the suspicion for Hansen’s disease. The diagnosis is generally
made by the findings of the classic histopathologic changes or acid fast
bacilli in skin or nerve biopsies. Lepromatous and borderline lesions will
usually have many organisms and tuberculoid few, if any. In such situations
the diagnosis must be made on clinical ground, although the finding of
a granulomatous dermatitis/neuritis supports the diagnosis.
Treatment: Treatment regimens are summarized in Table 1. In addition
to multidrug regimens studies have suggested that BCG inoculation protects
against leprosy. A single dose appears to be 50% protective and two doses
may increase the protection further.
Table 1. Recommended Treatment Regimens for Hansen’s Disease.
From Wathen PI. Hansen’s Disease. Southern Medical Journal 1996;98(7):647-652.
References:
1. Forbes CD, Jackson WF. A Color Atlas and Text of Clinical Medicine.
Wolfe Publishing, Aylesbury, England, 1st ed, 1993, pp. 49-50.
2. Jacobsen RR, Krahenbuhl JL. Leprosy. The Lancet 1999;353:655-660.
3. Wathen PI. Hansen’s Disease. Southern Medical Journal 1996;98(7):647-652.
4. Whittey CJM, Lockwood DNJ. Leprosy – New Perspectives on an Old Disease.
Journal of Infection 1999;38:2-5.
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