Histoid hansen's with transepidermal elimination: Five cases.

Histoid leprosy is an expression of multibacillary leprosy with unique histopathology and characteristic bacterial morphology. It is characterized by the occurrence of asymptomatic firm, dome-shaped succulent papulonodules on apparently normal skin, or subcutaneous tissues. There are very few reports of the detection of Mycobacterium leprae in the epidermis in leprosy, which may have a possible role in transmission. We report five de novo cases of histoid leprosy with transepidermal elimination.