Leprosy is a rare disorder in the United States, yet the rheumatic features of the disease appear to be common and frequently are the primary complaint. We observed rheumatic syndromes of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) occurring with and without arthritis, a swollen hands syndrome, cutaneous vasculitis, or myositis in the majority (15 of 21) of our patients. These syndromes were distinctive, sometimes dramatic, and appeared to "mimic" idiopathic rheumatic diseases, substantially delaying an accurate diagnosis of leprosy in some patients. These complications were the major cause of morbidity in our 21 patients and became dominant clinical problems requiring additional chemotherapy.
BT - Medicine C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6969346?dopt=Abstract DA - 1980 Nov DO - 10.1097/00005792-198011000-00004 IS - 6 J2 - Medicine (Baltimore) LA - eng N2 -Leprosy is a rare disorder in the United States, yet the rheumatic features of the disease appear to be common and frequently are the primary complaint. We observed rheumatic syndromes of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) occurring with and without arthritis, a swollen hands syndrome, cutaneous vasculitis, or myositis in the majority (15 of 21) of our patients. These syndromes were distinctive, sometimes dramatic, and appeared to "mimic" idiopathic rheumatic diseases, substantially delaying an accurate diagnosis of leprosy in some patients. These complications were the major cause of morbidity in our 21 patients and became dominant clinical problems requiring additional chemotherapy.
PY - 1980 SP - 442 EP - 8 T2 - Medicine TI - The rheumatic manifestations of leprosy (Hansen disease). VL - 59 SN - 0025-7974 ER -