RESUMO
In 55 cases presenting with enlarged peripheral nerves without any skin lesions, a rice grain sized biopsy of the nerve lesion was taken for histopathological examination. As a result definitive diagnoses could be established: leprosy was diagnosed in 32 cases. In 23 cases the cause of nerve enlargement was not leprosy: post traumatic neuritis 9, cysts 5, hypertrophic neuritis 3, nonspecific 4, neurofibroma 1, and amyloidosis 1. In all of these cases there was a deficit of the nerve function and postoperatively there were no complications. The authors, as a result of this experience, believe that surgical exploration nad biopsy is a harmless diagnostic tool for establishing a definitive diagnosis o fleprosy in cases presenting with enlarged peripheral nerves without any skin lesions. In 23 out of 55 such cases the nerve enlargement was proved to be other causes than leprosy
