Epidemiological and Clinical Pattern of Leprosy in a Tertiary Care Centre in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India- A Retrospective Study

Introduction: Leprosy also known as Hansen’s Disease (HD), is a chronic infectious granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It affects the skin and peripheral nerves. It is characterised by the formation of nodules or macules that enlarge and spread with loss of sensation due to nerve involvement which can progress to paralysis and eventually lead to deformities.

Aim: To describe the clinical and epidemiological pattern of leprosy patients in a tertiary care hospital in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary level, Military Hospital in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India, from June 2022 to August 2022. Medical records of 263 Leprosy patients, who were diagnosed as HD clinically and histopathologically were part of the study. All their data pertaining to the history, onset, time of detection, clinical features in the form, type and number of patches, presence of peripheral nerve thickenings, investigations which included skin slit smear for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) (Lepra) and histo-pathological examination, duration of drug therapy, reactions encountered and the disabilities were collected.

Results: A total of 263 case records of leprosy patients (225 males (85.55%) and 38 females (14.45%), mean age of 35.36±13.79 years) were analysed. Majority of the cases were Borderline Tuberculoid (BT) Hansen’s 113 (42.96%). Average time taken by the patients before reporting to the Leprosy centre from onset of symptoms was 18 months. The most common clinical manifestation was multiple light coloured numb patches in 169 patients. A total of 245 patients had peripheral nerve thickening with Ulnar nerve 205 (77.95%) being the most commonly affected nerve. A total of 98 patients had Type-1 reaction and 13 had Type-2 reaction. The Grade-2 disability was seen in 22 cases with claw hand deformity being the commonest 10 (45.45%).

Conclusion: In present study, majority patients were male with the most common clinical manifestation being multiple numb patches all over the body. The most common type of leprosy which presented was BT HD.