Ultrasonographic findings in the livers of patients with lepromatous leprosy.

Abdominal ultrasonography, including assessment of the liver, spleen, pancreas, great abdominal vessels, and kidneys, was carried out in seven patients with lepromatous leprosy, six patients with tuberculoid leprosy, and 32 healthy Congolese controls. Abnormal ultrasound findings were predominantly detected in the livers of patients with lepromatous leprosy and included an inhomogeneous echo texture of the hepatic parenchyma in all cases. Furthermore, six patients revealed echo-dense, partly irregular areas up to 1.5 cm X 3 cm in size distributed throughout the liver. These were associated with shadowing and were considered to contain calcium. No abnormal findings were encountered in controls or in patients with tuberculoid leprosy except for one patient with tuberculoid leprosy who had a rounded caudal liver edge. The sizes and volumes of liver, spleen, and kidneys were not different in the three groups.