RESUMEN
This is a report of two imported cases, seen in the Netherlands, of rather diffuse lepromatous leprosy with cutaneous allergic vasculitis (Ruiter). Emphasis is laid upon similarities with the Lucio phenomenon. The first patient, a native of Indonesia, showed diffuse infiltration and several small nodules on the face. After a year of treatment with DDS, numerous erythematous and purpuric spots appeared abruptly on the extremities and body, accompained with fever and symptoms of arthritis. Some spots had bullous necrotic centers, which subsided in a few weeks with superficial healing. An elevated antistreptolysin later suggested the existence of a secondary infection. The second case, in a Hollander born in Indonesia, ahd diffuse lepromatous leprosy which was irregularly treated since 1947. An accidental injury caused an ulceration of the leg which became secondarily infected, with high fever and symptoms of arthritis. Shortly thereafter painful spots, capriciously typical of the Lucio phenomenon, appeared on the extremities. The histopathologic preparations from both patients obtained from the lesions described showed, in addition to the features of lepromatous leprosy, the picture of allergic vascularitis. Both cases responded well to antibiotic treatment. The relationship between cutaneous allergic vasculitis (Ruiter) and the Lucio phenomenon is discussed.