ABSTRACT
Introduction: Cutaneous leishmaniasis has a wide distribution, spreading from the Indian subcontinent, across Central and South -Western Asia, to the Mediterranean Basin, the northern half of the African continent, and Central and south America. In India, it is endemic to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Some cases have been reported from the north western region of Indo-Gangetic plain. The present study was aimed to see the correlation of clinical features and histopathological findings in clinically diagnosed cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Pir Panjal region of Jammu and Kashmir which is nonendemic area. Material and Methods: It was an observational and descriptive study and was conducted over a period of 1 year from June 2016 to May 2017 in Pir Panjal region of Jammu and Kashmir. 62 patients with clinically suspicious lesions of CL were studied with particular reference to different histological patterns. Clinical features were correlated with histological patterns. 56 of these were diagnosed as true clinical cases on the basis of criteria for clinical diagnosis and therapeutic response. There were 37 males and 25 females with an age range of 2 to 78 years. These cases were then subjected to slit skin smear and histopathological examination. Results: Out of 62 suspected cases, 38 (61.2%) were smearpositive and 24 (39%) demonstrated Leishman Donovan (LD) bodies in histological sections. 29 of the remaining cases showed one of the recognizable histological patterns seen in CL, 6 did not reveal any suggestive histology but responded to antimonial compound, and 1 turned out to be a case of Discoid lupus erythematosis. Conclusion: Keeping in view the magnitude of problem and limited resources, clinical features may be reliable for diagnosis but this health problem needs further epidemiological studies to know the vectors and parasite strains