Relapses after multidrug therapy for leprosy: a preliminary report of 22 cases in west Nepal.

The WHO recommended multidrug therapy regimens for leprosy patients were implemented in Nepal from 1982. Therefore a considerable number of both paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) patients have been on observation after release from MDT, for as long as 4-5 years. A retrospective study was done considering the patients who relapsed during this period and who were registered at the Out-patients Department of Green Pastures Hospital in Pokhara, Nepal. A total of 22 patients relapsed out of 927 who were released from MDT.

[Ocular findings in leprosy: results of a survey in the Green Pastures Leprosy Hospital, Nepal (author's transl)]. / Augenbefunde bei Lepra. Ergebnisse einer Studie im Green-Pastures-Leprosy-Hospital Pokhara/Nepal.

One hundred and seventy leprous patients underwent ophthalmic examination; of those with tuberculoid leprosy, 49.3% had ocular pathology; in patients with lepromatous leprosy the corresponding figure was 61.4%. 4.7 percent of all eyes examined were blind. Early chemotherapy prevents further complications in tuberculoid leprosy, but not in ;the lepromatous type. The results are compared with those of other authors.