Cyto- histopathological correlation in hansen’s disease – a case series

Introduction: Hansen’s Disease is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It primarily affects peripheral nerves and skin.Hansen’s disease can be diagnosed on the basis of skin lesions and peripheral nerves along with cytological and histopathological examination by demonstration of acid-fast bacilli. Objectives: Concordance between clinical, cytological and histopathological diagnosis in cases of leprosy using Ridley–Jopling scale. Material & Methods: The present prospective study was conducted in the Departments of Pathology and Dermatology. Ten clinically diagnosed cases of leprosy were included in this study. Slit Skin smears and biopsies of all these cases of Hansen's disease were received and the cases were classified according to Ridley–Jopling classification into TT, BT, BB, I, BL, and LL. Cyto -histological correlation was done for all the cases. Results :Obsrevation from this study revealed commonest age group affected by Hansen’ s Disease was 20- 29Years of age. Males are affected predominantly and the commonest clinically diagnosed spectrum was LL (Lepromatous leprosy). It was observed that there was complete concordance between clinical diagnosis, cytological and histopathological diagnosis. Conclusion: For accurate diagnosis correlation of clinical, cytological and histopathological features appears to be more reliable than considering any of the prameters alone.