01937nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001653001200042653001500054653001900069653001100088100001700099700001500116700002600131700001600157700001600173700001300189700002300202700001800225245012000243856007500363300001200438490000700450520120000457022001401657       2014                            d10aleprosy10aDisability10aNeural changes10aBrazil1 aFigueiredo I1 aAquino DMC1 aJesus Mendes Caldas A1 aGoulart IMB1 aPereira SRF1 aSerra HO1 aAlmeida Fonseca PC1 aAraújo AERAE00aNeural complications and physical disabilities in leprosy in a capital of northeastern Brazil with high endemicity.  uhttp://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbepid/v17n4/1415-790X-rbepid-17-04-00899.pdf  a899-9100 v173 a<p><b>INTRODUCTION: </b>Leprosy is an infectious disease whose etiologic agent is Mycobacterium leprae, manifested by dermatological and neurological signs and symptoms.</p><p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>To investigate neural changes and the degree of physical disability in the eyes, hands and feet before and after treatment, as well as sociodemographic and clinical profile of patients affected by leprosy.</p><p><b>METHOD: </b>A longitudinal epidemiological study comprising 155 patients with leprosy, from a spontaneous demand, diagnosed between March 2010 and February 2011, and treated with multidrug therapy (MDT) between March 2010 and July 2012 in a program for leprosy eradication in São Luis (MA), Brazil.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Before treatment, 46.5% of patients were considered as borderline, 51.6% had some alteration in the eyes and 52.3% in the feet, and the radial nerve (18.7%) was the most affected. There was a statistically significant difference between the changes in the radial nerve at the beginning of and after treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>The analysis points to late diagnosis, as some patients have had abnormal neural and physical disabilities before treatment.</p>  a1980-5497