01682nas a2200325   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653001400065653001000079653002300089653001100112653001200123653000900135653001600144653002100160653001300181653001800194100001500212700001300227700001300240700001300253700001200266700001500278245004200293300001000335490000800345520098900353022001401342       1984                            d  c1984 Feb10aAdult10aBlindness10aEgypt10aHospitals, Special10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aRural Population10aTrachoma10aVisual Acuity1 aSchwab I R1 aNassar E1 aMalaty R1 aZarifa A1 aKorra A1 aDawson C R00aLeprosy in a trachomatous population.  a240-40 v1023 a<p>In an Egyptian leprosy hospital, 17% of 133 patients had a visual acuity of less than 3/60. Corneal opacity, phthisis bulbi, and cataract accounted for 85% of blindness. Leprosy and trachoma together produce blinding corneal opacity by exposure, leprous keratitis, and trichiasis and entropion. Inturned lids, a late result of conjunctival scarring due to childhood trachoma, were less frequent in patients with lepromatous leprosy than in patients with tuberculoid leprosy; because conjunctival scarring from trachoma depends on cell-mediated immunity, patients with lepromatous leprosy may not have had severe trachomatous scarring develop due to their lifelong abnormality in cellular immunity. In patients with leprosy, even when complicated by trachoma, simple measures to prevent or restore vision include medical treatment of leprosy, surgical correction of lid deformities, sector iridectomy for constricted pupils or central corneal opacities, and cataract extraction.</p>  a0003-9950