01979nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002100055653001100076653002400087653002500111653001400136653001700150100001500167700001500182700001300197700001300210700001500223245012800238856005900366300001100425490000700436050003200443520121200475022001401687       1989                            d  c1989 Sep10aDisabled Persons10aHumans10aLeprosy, Borderline10aLeprosy, Tuberculoid10aPrognosis10aTime Factors1 aDeguerry M1 aDeclercq E1 aMisson C1 aVellut C1 aBertrand F00aRegistration of the number of macules in paucibacillary leprosy for evaluation of early diagnosis and individual prognosis.  uhttp://leprev.ilsl.br/pdfs/1989/v60n3/pdf/v60n3a06.pdf  a206-130 v60  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>The number of macules is usually registered at diagnosis in the first clinical examination of leprosy patients. The question studied here is whether this practice is of any interest as an indicator of the precocity of detection of the prognosis. The study is based on the 26,996 paucibacillary patients detected from 1957 to 1982 in Polambakkam Leprosy Centre (South India) for whom the number of macules and disability status are assessed and registered. Several observations suggest that the proportion of single-macule patients among the newly detected cases is a more sensitive indicator than the proportion of new patients with disabilities for the evaluation of the delay between onset of the disease and detection. Its use could be especially helpful for programmes running for several years, when it becomes difficult to observe significant variations in the proportion of patients with disabilities. Regarding the prognosis value of the number of macules, inactivation and relapse probabilities were calculated. Regularity of treatment is found to be a better predictor of early inactivation than the number of macules, while relapse probabilities are more affected by the number of macules.</p>  a0305-7518