Profile of leprosy in children: past and present.

The profile of leprosy in children currently seen in a referral hospital is compared with that of children with leprosy admitted in the 1970s. Children with leprosy under the age of 15 years in 1974 and 1979 comprised one group (Group I) while those during 1989 and 1994 constituted the second group (Group II) The variables studied included age, sex, type of leprosy, deformity and contact status. Multidrug therapy (MDT) was introduced in the treatment of leprosy in 1982. The probable change it has made in the presentation of leprosy in children is discussed.

Intraocular pressure in leprosy patients without clinically apparent anterior segment pathology.

A widely prevalent notion is that intraocular pressures are generally lower in leprosy patients than in normal individuals. Applanation intraocular pressures were recorded in one hundred sixty-six leprosy patients who had no clinically visible anterior segment pathology and in one hundred and eleven healthy controls. Mean (SD) intraocular pressures in leprosy patients (13.6 (3.0) mm Hg) did not differ significantly from that of controls (13.1 (2.7) mm Hg). Eyes of only 1.5% of the leprosy patients had pressures of 7 mm Hg or less. Correlation coefficients (r) between age, sex and intraocular pressures were not statistically significant both in leprosy patients and in controls. No statistically significant differences in mean intraocular pressures were noted when leprosy patients were grouped according to the Ridley and Jopling classification. Duration of disease also did not affect the intraocular pressures. Neither did smear positivity or differing bacterial indices. This study questions the widely held belief that low intraocular pressures are a common feature in leprosy and contends that in the era of MDT where ocular complications associated with low intraocular pressures are thought to be less, the occurrence of low intraocular pressure may not be as common a phenomenon as it is believed to be.