Lagophthalmos in leprosy its surgical treatment / ?

Six cases of lagophthalmos due to leprosy, three with lower lid ectropion, were operated on by a tecnique first described by Axenfeld. A strong silk suture is passed subcutaneously round the lid margins under both tarsal ligaments. The sutures are left in situ for 3 months and removed when the fibrous tract so formed is strong enough to support the lid in its corrected position

Lagophthalmos in leprosy its surgical treatment / ?

Six cases of lagophthalmos due to leprosy, three with lower lid ectropion, were operated on by a tecnique first described by Axenfeld. A strong silk suture is passed subcutaneously round the lid margins under both tarsal ligaments. The sutures are left in situ for 3 months and removed when the fibrous tract so formed is strong enough to support the lid in its corrected position

Results of inoculation of white rats with human leprosy bacilli by the intraneural route preliminary report

1 An attempt has been made to transmit the human leprosy bacillus to white rats by injecting the exposed sciatic nerve with a suspension of bacillus-rich leprous tissue mixed with an equal amount of sterile egg albumen. 2- One of the five rats so inoculated showed evidence of massive infection with an acid-fast organism whem sacrified three and one-half months after inoculation. In an attempt to ascertain the actual nature of this acid-fast organism, material from this rat was passed by intraperitoneal inoculation to other rats and to guinea-pigs; and a second similar passage has been made, too recently for the results to be known, to rats and mice from lesions which developed in one of the first-passage rats. 3- Negative results of cultures and of the guinea-pig inoculations indicate that the acid-fast bacillus encountered is not the tubercle bacillus or any other readily-cultivated mycobacterium. The occurrence of an infection by acid-fast bacilli in the rat of the first passage group which survived sufficiently long suggest that the bacillus may be the Stefansky bacillus and not the human leprosy bacillus. 4- This observation brings out the great importance of excluding chance infection with Stefansky bacillus of rodents inoculated experimentally with human leprosy material, especially in laboratories where work with both human and rat leprosy is being carried out.

A comparative study of three antigens for the lepromin test

A study is reported of the lepromin test done with three different antigens: (1) the classical Mitsuda antigen prepared by Wade's method, (2) dharmendra's refined bacillary antigen, and (3) a variant of the latter designed to increase the number of late reactions produced by it. Observations were made of: (a) the immediate erythematous flare, (b) the early reaction read after both 24 and 48 hours and (c) the late reaction observed at weekly intervals up to 5 weeks. Of 110 patients tested, 108 returned for the reading of the early reaction, but only 91 attended regularly for the reading of the late reactions. These 91 were: 29 maculoanesthetic, 36 tuberculoid, and 26 lepromatous. The immediate flare was seen in a number of cases of all types and with all the antigens used, but most frequently with the Wade-Mitsuda antigen. It appears to be of a nonspecific nature and of no significance in the present connection. It is concluded that the early reaction can be read at 24 hours as routine. Only when it is negative or doubtful at that time need a 48 hour reading be made. The characteristic nodule of the positive late reaction usually has a 5 mm. minimum with antigens of the classical Mitsuda type, but with the Dharmendra antigen the nodule is smaller. It is believed that 2.5 mm. should be the proper minimum, although 3 mm. was used in this study. The Wade-Mitsuda antigen produced the highest number of positive late reactions and fair number of early reactions. The Dharmendra original caused the highest number of early reactions. The Dharmendra original caused the highest number of positive early reactions, and the lowest number of late reactions. The Dharmendra variant gave results which were intermediate...