02152nas a2200457   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653000900065653001600074653001200090653003000102653002200132653001100154653002200165653002000187653001100207653002300218653002500241653002500266653000900291653001600300653003900316653001500355653002400370653001300394653002200407100001300429700001900442700001700461700001200478700001200490700001400502700001200516245006600528300001100594490000700605050001600612520105200628022001401680       2007                            d  c2007 Dec10aAdult10aAged10aClofazimine10aDapsone10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aElectrophysiology10aFemale10aFollow-Up Studies10aGlucocorticoids10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aLeprosy, Tuberculoid10aLongitudinal studies10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aPeripheral Nervous System Diseases10aPrednisone10aProspective Studies10aRifampin10aTreatment Outcome1 aJardim M1 aIllarramendi X1 aNascimento O1 aNery JA1 aSales A1 aSampaio E1 aSarno E00aPure neural leprosy: steroids prevent neuropathy progression.  a969-730 v65  aJARDIM 20073 a<p>Multidrug therapy (MDT), with rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine, treats leprosy infection but is insufficient in arresting or preventing the nerve damage that causes impairments and disabilities. This case-series study evaluates the benefits of the combined use of steroids and MDT in preventing nerve damage in patients with pure neural leprosy (PNL). In addition to MDT, 24 patients (88% male aged 20-79 years, median=41) received a daily morning dose of 60 mg prednisone (PDN) that was gradually reduced by 10 mg during each of the following 5 months. PNL was clinically diagnosed and confirmed by nerve histopathology or PCR. A low prevalence (8.3%) of reaction was observed after release from treatment. However, most of the clinical parameters showed significant improvement; and a reduction of nerve conduction block was observed in 42% of the patients. The administration of full-dose PDN improved the clinical and electrophysiological condition of the PNL patients, contributing to the prevention of further neurological damage.</p>  a0004-282X