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One hundred twenty histologically confirmed cases of leprosy having macular lesions were evaluated clinically and histopathologically according to Ridley-Jopling classification. Of these 120 cases, the majority (91 or 75.8%) were young adults. The main clinical findings were: a single macule in 42 patients (35%), multiple macules 2-5 in numbers in 35 patients (29.1%), 6-10 macules in 17 patients (14.1%) and more than 10 macules in 26 patients (21.6%). Impairment of sensation over the macular lesions was present in 62 cases (51.6%), total loss of sensation was noticed in 31 patients (25.8%) and sensation was intact in 27 patients (22.5%). Acid-fast bacilli were detected in 11 cases (9.1%) by slit-skin smear examination. Clinical examination of the 120 cases revealed features of TT in 16 (13.3%), BT in 41 (34.1%), BB in 11 (9.1%), BL in 13 (10.8%), LL in 7 (5.8%) and indeterminate leprosy (IL) in 32 patients (26.6%). On the contrary, histologically there were 22 cases of TT (18.3%), 38 cases of BT (31.6%), 8 (6.5%) BB, 10 BL (8.3%), 7 LL (5.8%) and 35 cases of IL (29.1%). Histopathological features were consistent with the clinical picture in 84 patients (70%).

Out of 50 cases of indeterminate leprosy, 46 were male and 4 were female. The only clinical finding was a single hypopigmented macule in 38 (76%) cases. Nine (18%) patients had two and three (6%) cases had three hypopigmented macules. All patients were treated with multidrug therapy for one year. At the end of six months, the lesions were still active in 12 (24%) cases. At the end of one year of treatment it was found that 33 (66%) patients became inactive and 3 (6%) cases were still to be active. The study shows that all indeterminate leprosy cases must be treated with multidrug therapy till all signs of activity are subsided.

A study was undertaken in 42 patients with indeterminate leprosy to evaluate the efficacy of multidrug therapy (MDT) in Indeterminate leprosy for 12 months. The main clinical finding was a single hypopigmented macule in 31 (73.8%) of the 42 cases. Histopathologically all cases showed lymphohistiocytic infiltration around skin appendages and dermal nerves. At the end of six months of MDT all the cases were evaluated clinically and 33 (85.5%) showed marked improvement or total inactivation while the lesions were still active clinically in 21.4% cases. Histopathological examination of lesions in 30 patients showed complete histological resolution in 9 cases only. At the end of one year of treatment it was found that 28 cases (66.3%) had become inactive and only 2 (4.7%) were found to be still active.

A study was conducted to find out the incidence of ocular complications in leprosy. The ocular lesions were found in 6.6% of lepromatous leprosy and 1.6% in nonlepromatous leprosy. Out of 150 patients with eye lesions 74% were males and 80% belonged to lepromatous leprosy. The age group in all the patients varied from 3rd to 6th decade. Mean duration of leprosy ln lepromatous leprosy was 6.2 years. The important eye complication observed were lagophthalmos (8.1%), corneal ulcers (10%) and iridocyclitis (24%). The loss of eye-brows (76%) was found to be most frequent in this study followed by corneal lesion (62%). It is concluded that examination of eyes are essential in all types of leprosy.

Preliminary results of a clinical trial in one hundred untreated paucibacillary leprosy cases with multidrug therapy (MDT) as per WHO recommendation are presented. Out of 100 fresh cases studied 18 had indeterminate, 35 tuberculoid and 47 cases had borderline tuberculoid leprosy. All were given MDT consisting of rifampicin 600 mg once a month and dapsone 100 mg daily for six months. At the end of six months all the cases were evaluated clinically and histopathological examination of lesions were studied. The lesions were still active in 35% of patient clinically and 47% histologically. Complete histological resolution have come across only in 4 cases suffering from indeterminate leprosy. Altogether 65% cases receiving MDT have shown marked improvement to total inactivation. Histologically, lymphocytic infiltration still persisted in 90% of slides examined and nerve infiltration were still present in 64% of cases at the end of six months receiving MDT.