Leprosy, a rare chronic granulomatous communicable disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is classically known to have cutaneous and neurologic sequelae. As a result of immigration, the disease, endemic in Brazil, India, Nepal, Madagascar, Myanmar, and Indonesia, has been recognized to be present in North America and the Caribbean. We describe a case of a woman presenting with a long history of a recurrent rash and leg numbness, initially diagnosed with systemic lupus, who was later proven to have lepromatous leprosy. It is a reminder that this underappreciated disease should still be considered in the differential diagnosis of skin rash and neuropathy, even in nonendemic regions.
BT - Journal of clinical rheumatology : practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17551381?dopt=Abstract CN - FLOWER 2007 DA - 2007 Jun DO - 10.1097/RHU.0b013e318064e7a0 IS - 3 J2 - J Clin Rheumatol LA - eng N2 -Leprosy, a rare chronic granulomatous communicable disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is classically known to have cutaneous and neurologic sequelae. As a result of immigration, the disease, endemic in Brazil, India, Nepal, Madagascar, Myanmar, and Indonesia, has been recognized to be present in North America and the Caribbean. We describe a case of a woman presenting with a long history of a recurrent rash and leg numbness, initially diagnosed with systemic lupus, who was later proven to have lepromatous leprosy. It is a reminder that this underappreciated disease should still be considered in the differential diagnosis of skin rash and neuropathy, even in nonendemic regions.
PY - 2007 SP - 143 EP - 5 T2 - Journal of clinical rheumatology : practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases TI - A case of recurrent rash and leg numbness mimicking systemic rheumatic disease: the occurrence of leprosy in a nonendemic area. VL - 13 SN - 1076-1608 ER -