RESUMO
Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease with a wide spectrum of signs and symptoms depending on the ability of the host's immune system to resist the infection. The disease is frequently associated with sensory loss in skin lesions and damage in peripheral nerve trunks leading to nerve function impairment. In lepromatous leprosy, the immune system offers no protection against the multiplying bacilli and this results in heavy infiltration of the internal organs. We report a case of florid lepromatous leprosy with bone marrow suppression due to the disease, presenting with anemia, leukocytopenia and thrombocytopenia. The hematological abnormalities were fully reversed by mutidrug therapy for leprosy. We suggest that infiltration of the bone marrow by Mycobacterium leprae can cause pancytopenia, which can be cured by treatment of the leprosy alone.
Assuntos
Doenças da Medula Óssea/sangue , Doenças da Medula Óssea/microbiologia , Hansenostáticos/uso terapêutico , Hanseníase Virchowiana/sangue , Pancitopenia/microbiologia , Doenças da Medula Óssea/patologia , Extremidades/microbiologia , Extremidades/patologia , Face/microbiologia , Face/patologia , Humanos , Hanseníase Virchowiana/tratamento farmacológico , Hanseníase Virchowiana/patologia , Masculino , Pancitopenia/patologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
A case of lepromatous leprosy with bone marrow involvement in a 37 year old man is presented. Bone marrow aspiration was performed for evaluation of anemia and leukopenia. Ziehl-Neelsen stain demonstrated numerous bacilli lying free in the interstitium and in the cytoplasm of foamy macrophages. The patients was treated with dapsone, rifampicin and thalidomide, and obtained a good response. Bone marrow evaluation is useful in the initial study and surveillance of selected patients with lepromatous leprosy and hematological abnormalities.
Assuntos
Doenças da Medula Óssea/microbiologia , Hanseníase Virchowiana/complicações , Adulto , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
Hansen's disease (HD) is one of the major infectious diseases in the world with an estimated total of 12 million cases. Physicians in North America, however, rarely see HD or its manifestations. Hematological manifestations of HD have been reported but are not well appreciated. We report a patient with leukopenia while under treatment for active HD who demonstrated mycobacterial involvement of the bone marrow.