Identification of M.leprae in conjunctiva of leprosy patients using the superior tarsal conjunctiva scrape technique.

The technique of superior tarsal conjunctiva scrape was used for identifying M.leprae in the conjunctiva in 56 leprosy patients (all of them multibacillary, some untreated and others treated with multidrug therapy). The technique of tarsal conjunctiva scrape was shown to be more suitable than conjunctival biopsy for identifying lepra bacilli. This technique is also easier to perform and has shown a statistical relation between bacilloscopical index of skin (BIsk) and bacilloscopical index of tarsal conjunctiva (BIconj) values. Thus, if the bacilli can be identified at tarsal conjunctiva we can assume greater systemic bacillary load in the patients.

Study of ocular changes in leprosy patients.

In this study, 997 leprosy patients were examined, 528 of them with lepromatous leprosy (53%), 199 with borderline leprosy (20%), 167 with tuberculoid leprosy (16%) and 103 (10.3%) with indeterminate leprosy. Changes in the ocular bulb were noted in 314 patients (31.5%) specially in those with lepromatous leprosy. These alterations were greater with increasing age of the patient and length of disease. Severe ocular lesions were rare, probably due to previous systemic treatment. The "pearls" in the fundus of the eye resulting from leprosy were also studied.

Bilateral iridocyclitis caused by Mycobacterium leprae diagnosed through paracentesis.

The authors conducted an anterior chamber paracentesis in a patient with lepromatous leprosy showing bilateral iridocyclitis. The paracentesis was performed in the outpatients department. The aqueous humor was studied by Ziehl-Nielsen staining method and the result was the isolation of the M. leprae in the anterior chamber. This study shows that M. leprae can promote uveitis in leprosy patients. Therefore, it should be looked for in patients having this type of disease.