TY - JOUR KW - Hand KW - Adolescent KW - Abscess KW - Humans KW - leprosy KW - Leprosy, Tuberculoid KW - Male KW - Neuritis AU - Rai D AU - Malhotra H AU - Garg RK AU - Goel M AU - Malhotra K AU - Kumar V AU - Singh AK AU - Jain A AU - Kohli N AU - Singh SK AB -

Nerve abscess is an infrequently reported complication of leprosy. We describe a patient with a pure neuritic type of leprosy with multiple nerve abscesses, who presented with tingling and numbness in the medial aspect of his right forearm and hand. Subsequently he developed pain, redness and swelling over the medial side of his right elbow and the flexor aspect of his right wrist. High-resolution ultrasound showed diffuse thickening of the right ulnar nerve with hypoechoic texture housing a cystic lesion with internal debris suggesting an abscess, at the cubital tunnel. Histopathological examination of the pus and tissue obtained from the abscess revealed presence of granulomas with lepra bacilli. The patient responded to surgery and multidrug therapy. In conclusion, the nerve abscess as the first manifestation of leprosy is uncommon and a high index of suspicion is required to make a correct diagnosis.

BT - Leprosy review C1 -

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24171239?dopt=Abstract

IS - 2 J2 - Lepr Rev LA - eng N2 -

Nerve abscess is an infrequently reported complication of leprosy. We describe a patient with a pure neuritic type of leprosy with multiple nerve abscesses, who presented with tingling and numbness in the medial aspect of his right forearm and hand. Subsequently he developed pain, redness and swelling over the medial side of his right elbow and the flexor aspect of his right wrist. High-resolution ultrasound showed diffuse thickening of the right ulnar nerve with hypoechoic texture housing a cystic lesion with internal debris suggesting an abscess, at the cubital tunnel. Histopathological examination of the pus and tissue obtained from the abscess revealed presence of granulomas with lepra bacilli. The patient responded to surgery and multidrug therapy. In conclusion, the nerve abscess as the first manifestation of leprosy is uncommon and a high index of suspicion is required to make a correct diagnosis.

PY - 2013 SP - 136 EP - 40 T2 - Leprosy review TI - Nerve abscess in primary neuritic leprosy. UR - https://leprosyreview.org/article/84/2/13-6140 VL - 84 SN - 0305-7518 ER -