Indonesian Journal of Rheumatology
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2010): Indonesian Journal of Rheumatology

Arthritis in leprosy without specific skin lesion

Sumartini Dewi (Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Indonesia School of Medicine/Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Jakarta)
Bambang Setiyohadi (Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Indonesia School of Medicine/Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Jakarta)



Article Info

Publish Date
07 Feb 2018

Abstract

Leprosy patients could display a great variability of signs and symptoms. An overabundance of rheumatic manifestations, occuring alone or in varying combinations, are associated with leprosy, particularly with lepra reactions A study involving seventy cases of leprosy found that rheumatic manifestations were seen in 61.42% of cases: arthritis in 54.28% and soft tissue rheumatism in 17.14%. Enthesitis was seen in 2.84% of cases. Rheumatic manifestations may be the primary complaint, thus delaying accurate diagnosis. Musculoskeletal involvement in leprosy is the third most frequent manifestation after dermatological and neurological involvements. It can occur at anytime during the infection. Articular inflammation in leprosy, which closely mimics other rheumatic disorders, usually occurs in reactive states, particularly erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL).1 About 1–5% of leprosy patients are reported of developing arthritis (synovial inflammation) at some stage of the disease but this rate increases to over 50% during lepra reactions.2 Here we report a case of arthritis in leprosywithout any typical skin lesion thus causing a delay in diagnosis.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

ijr

Publisher

Subject

Medicine & Pharmacology

Description

Indonesian Journal of Rheumatology is a peer-reviewed open access journal on rheumatic diseases and connective tissue disorders. This is an official journal of Indonesian Rheumatology Associantion (IRA) and published twice a year since 2009. Our mission is to encourage the development of scientific ...