A ONE YEAR HOSPITAL BASED CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY OF DERMATOSCOPY IN LEPROSY AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICAL SPECTRUM AND HISTOPATHOLOGY AT A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE.

Abstract

ackground: Leprosy is a persistent granulomatous infection affecting mainly the skin and nerves that can manifest clinically in many different ways which makes it a diagnostic challenge and can be easily confused with other infective and non-infective granulomatous disorders. Dermatoscopy is a useful non-invasive modality which reveals structures and features invisible to the naked eye, and hence can aid in the diagnosis of leprosy. Dermoscopic findings must be associated with clinical spectrum and histopathology as only the combination of such data may significantly improve the diagnostic precision in the field of leprosy diagnosis. The current study aims to evaluate the dermatoscopic characteristics of several leprosy spectrums and to link the results to clinical spectrum and histopathological findings in the patients.