Ultrasound guided Fine needle aspiration cytology in diagnosing Primary neuritic leprosy cases at Sub-Himalayan region of West Bengal

Background: The present study was undertaken to assess the capacity of High Resolution Ultra Sonography and fine needle aspiration cytology of ulnar & popliteal nerves in the detection of pure neuritic leprosy. Materials & Methods: From 15th April, 2016 upto 14th April 2019 800 suspected cases of pure neuritic leprosy attending Out Patient Department of “The Tenovus Diagnostic & Research Centre Pvt. Ltd”, Hakimpara, Siliguri were screened by High Resolution Ultrasonography followed by USG guided Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) on all ultrasonographically hypoechoic nerves. Cytological & Microbiological studies were performed at the ‘The Microbes’ Pathological laboratory, Ashrampara, Siliguri Results: 608 (76%) cases showed diffusely hypoechoic nerves. Of all the 608 hypoechoic nerves subjected to USG guided FNAC 529 (87%) showed features of neuritis and 237 (39%) showed presence of Acid fast bacilli (AFB) in Ziehl-Neelsen (Z – N) stain. Presence of epithelioid cell granuloma and langhans giant cells were seen in 292 (48%) of the cases. Conclusion: High resolution Ultrasonography and USG guided FNAC are effective new screening tool in the investigation of Pure Neuritic Leprosy cases.