02865nas a2200421   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653000900080653002200089653001000111653002100121653003000142653001100172653001000183653001100193653001800204653002300222653001200245653000900257653001600266653002400282653002000306653001700326100001300343700002100356700001500377700001300392700001600405700001700421245014000438856007000578300001200648490000700660520176200667022001402429       2007                            d  c2007 Aug10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aAged, 80 and over10aChild10aChild, Preschool10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aHumans10aIndia10aInfant10aIris Diseases10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aProspective Studies10aRisk Assessment10aRisk Factors1 aDaniel E1 aSundar Rao P S S1 aFfytche TJ1 aChacko S1 aPrasanth HR1 aCourtright P00aIris atrophy in patients with newly diagnosed multibacillary leprosy: at diagnosis, during and after completion of multidrug treatment.  uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1954795/pdf/1019.pdf  a1019-220 v913 a<p><b>AIM: </b>To describe the prevalence and incidence of iris atrophy in patients with multibacillary (MB) leprosy.</p><p><b>METHODS AND PATIENTS: </b>Prospective longitudinal cohort study. 301 newly diagnosed patients with MB leprosy were followed up during the 2 years of treatment with multidrug therapy (MDT) and for a further 5 years with biannual ocular examinations. Incidence of iris atrophy was calculated as the number of patients with iris atrophy per person-year (PY) of follow-up among those who did not have iris atrophy at baseline. Stepwise multiple regression confirmed the presence of specific associations of demographic and clinical characteristics (p<0.05) with iris atrophy, detected by univariate analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Iris atrophy was present in 6 (2%) patients at enrolment. During MDT, with 445 PYs of follow-up, 9 patients developed iris atrophy (IR 0.02, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.04) that was associated with cataract (HR 15.13, 95% CI 3.71 to 61.79, p<0.001) and corneal opacities (HR 6.83, 95% CI 1.62 to 28.8, p = 0.009). After MDT, with 2005 PYs of follow-up, 60 patients developed iris atrophy (IR 0.03, 95% CI 0.023 to 0.039) that was associated with age (per decade; HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.78, p = 0.006), skin smear positivity (HR 3.50, 95% CI 1.33 to 9.24, p = 0.011), cataract (HR 3.66, 95% CI 1.85 to 7.25, p<0.001), keratic precipitates (HR 2.76, 95% CI 1.02 to 7.47, p = 0.046) and corneal opacity (HR 3.95, 95% CI 1.86 to 8.38, p<0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Iris atrophy continues to develop in 3% of patients with MB leprosy every year after they complete a 2-year course of MDT, and is associated with age, increasing loads of mycobacteria, subclinical inflammation, cataract and corneal opacity.</p>  a0007-1161