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ULNAR NEUROPATHY AS A FIRST SIGN OF HIV INFECTION: A DIAGNOSTIC CHALLENGE FOR LEPROSY ENDEMIC COUNTRIES
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Mycobacterium leprae and HIV are two infectious agents capable of infecting peripheral nerves and, as a result, inducing peripheral neuropathy. In leprosy endemic countries, more refined diagnostic procedures than are currently available are urgently needed to accurately a differential diagnosis between the peripheral neuropathies presenting in both HIV and leprosy since mononeuropathy simplex and multiplex as well as polyneuropathy are known to occur in both diseases (Jardim et al., 2003). Pure neural leprosy (PNL), for example, presents a particularly difficult diagnostic challenge. PNL patients have nerve deficit and/or enlargement of peripheral nerves with or without tenderness in the absence of any sign of skin disease or history of skin patches (Talwar et al., 1992). In this study, the case of a seropositive HIV patient admitted to our Leprosy Outpatient Clinic under suspicion of leprosy neuropathy is described.
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