01610nas a2200289   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653001100065653001100076653001200087653000900099653002500108653003000133653003200163100001700195700001100212700001500223700001400238245010600252856005900358300000900417490000700426050003200433520084100465022001401306       2001                            d  c2001 Mar10aAdult10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aPhysical Examination10aPredictive Value of Tests10aSensitivity and Specificity1 aLeMaster J W1 aShwe T1 aButlin C R1 aRoche P W00aPrediction of 'highly skin smear positive' cases among MB leprosy patients using clinical parameters.  uhttp://leprev.ilsl.br/pdfs/2001/v72n1/pdf/v72n1a05.pdf  a23-80 v72  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>Although 'highly skin smear positive' MB leprosy cases are known to be at high risk of relapse after release from treatment, and have been recommended to receive 'prolonged duration' MDT, government field-based control programmes without skin smear facilities have no simple alternative method to detect such cases. This study reports a significant prevalence of 'highly smear positive' cases amongst 2374 new multibacillary cases recently surveyed by skin smears in Nepal, and retrospectively analyses 555 newly detected, previously untreated BL and LL cases to identify clinical and laboratory parameters that may be associated with a 'highly positive skin smear'. While some parameters showed high sensitivity in predicting 'highly positive smear' status, none showed both high sensitivity and high specificity simultaneously.</p>  a0305-7518