01899nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653001200051653002200063653003000085653001100115653001400126653002300140653002300163653001200186653002400198653002500222653002500247653002500272653001300297653002300310653001800333653001300351653001700364100001300381700001800394700001700412700001400429245014100443300001100584490000700595520090900602022001401511       1989                            d  c198910aDapsone10aDrug Combinations10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aHumans10aIsoniazid10aIsonicotinic Acids10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aLeprosy, Borderline10aLeprosy, lepromatous10aLeprosy, Tuberculoid10aMycobacterium leprae10aParaguay10aPatient Compliance10aProthionamide10aRifampin10aTime Factors1 aPritze S1 aAlvarenga A E1 aLeguizamon O1 aHaubitz I00aIsoprodian and rifampicin in the treatment of leprosy: a descriptive evaluation of therapy durations in 475 Paraguayan leprosy patients.  a373-820 v353 a<p>In Paraguay, the National Leprosy/Tuberculosis Program is based on a combined chemotherapy with isoprodian and rifampicin. The aim of this descriptive study was to investigate the therapy durations used so far in the treatment of 475 leprosy patients and to analyze the criteria responsible for the wide-ranging differences in therapy durations. As initial criteria, the following parameters were identified to have a significant influence on the therapy duration: Patients never treated before or pretreated, clinical classification and initial bacteriological index (BI) value. During therapy, conditions like the attendance and BI decrease/year showed a significant correlation with the therapy duration. Even though the studied criteria did not allow to draw a definite conclusion with regard to an 'ideal' therapy duration, they proved to be reliable, as only 2 patients have relapsed so far.</p>  a0009-3157