ABSTRACT
Biopsies of the skin and liver were obtained from a patient with Lucio´s type of leprosy and from one with erythema nodosum leprosum. Vasculitis, a dense inflammatory exudate, and necrosis of the skin characyerized the Lucio type of leprosy; in erythema nodosum leprosum the vasculitis was not so severe and necrosis didi not occur. Large numbers of organisms in the endothelial cells of the vessels in the skin could have given rise to bacteremia and development of the disease in the liver. The liver in the patient with Lucio´s phenomenon contained tuberculoid lesions, whereas necrosis of sinusoidal walls and many Virchow´s cells were noted in the other patient. Leprosy becilli in Kupffer cells were easily demonstrated with electron microscopy. The presence of the bacteria within membrane-bound phagocytic vacuoles and the fusion of lysosomes with the vacuoles were seen...
