Lucius phenomenon: the importance of a primary dermatological care

Abstract Leprosy presents a varied clinical spectrum. Lucius phenomenon is a rare leprosy reaction characterized by erythematous, painful, slightly infiltrated macules and hemorrhagic bullae that progress to ulceration. This case report describes a patient whose diagnosis of leprosy occurred in the presence of Lucius phenomenon. Late diagnosis and delay in the implementation of specific therapy contributed to an unfavorable outcome, highlighting the importance of early identification and treatment of this disease, as well as its complications.

Lucius phenomenon: the importance of a primary dermatological care.

Leprosy presents a varied clinical spectrum. Lucius phenomenon is a rare leprosy reaction characterized by erythematous, painful, slightly infiltrated macules and hemorrhagic bullae that progress to ulceration. This case report describes a patient whose diagnosis of leprosy occurred in the presence of Lucius phenomenon. Late diagnosis and delay in the implementation of specific therapy contributed to an unfavorable outcome, highlighting the importance of early identification and treatment of this disease, as well as its complications.

Leprosy treatment dropout: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease endemic in some undeveloped areas, and still represents a public health problem in Brazil. Therefore, the control of this endemic disease depends necessarily on the institution of correct treatment and containment of treatment dropout. This study aims to conduct a systematic review of published studies on treatment dropout of leprosy. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of articles on treatment dropout of leprosy, published between january 2005 and april 2013, on MEDLINE and SciELO databases. The search was performed using the MeSH terms: "leprosy"; "patients dropouts" and the keywords: "leprosy, treatment" and "noncompliance, leprosy" in association, beside the equivalents in Portuguese. RESULTS: There were originally 196 references. After analyzing the titles and abstracts of articles, 20 articles were obtained and included in the final sample. DISCUSSION: Leprosy is a notifiable disease known as its disfiguring capability and the high rate of non-compliance to treatment. The low adhesion is responsible for the remaining potential sources of infection, irreversible complications, incomplete cure and, additionally, may lead to resistance to multiple drugs. Many factors are responsible for the interruption or dropout treatment: socioeconomic factors, education level, knowledge about the disease, lack of efficiency of health services, demographics, side effects of drugs, alcoholism, among others. CONCLUSION: The recent scientific literature about the subject diverge regarding the factors that most affect the dropout problem in treating leprosy patients. However, better integration between professionals and users, and greater commitment of the patient, are common points among the authors of the studies.