RESUMO

The present report describes two patients with leprous neuropathy diagnosed in Japan and manifesting with different clinical features. A 78-year-old Japanese man presented with a 3-year history of numbness and weakness affecting the upper and lower extremities. Although he did not have skin eruptions, nerve biopsy revealed acid-fast bacilli. Another patient, a 41-year-old Japanese-Brazilian man, presented with a 1-month history of numbness in the right fourth and fifth fingers and whole-body erythema. These cases highlight the fact that, as a result of worldwide travel and immigration, leprosy should still be considered in the differential diagnosis of neuropathy in developed countries.

Assuntos

Hanseníase/complicações , Hanseníase/diagnóstico , Doenças do Sistema Nervoso Periférico/diagnóstico , Doenças do Sistema Nervoso Periférico/etiologia , Adulto , Idoso , Biópsia , Brasil/etnologia , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Humanos , Japão , Hanseníase Virchowiana/complicações , Hanseníase Virchowiana/diagnóstico , Hanseníase Tuberculoide/complicações , Hanseníase Tuberculoide/diagnóstico , Masculino