VALUE OF TOUCH PREPARATIONS (IMPRINTS) FOR DIAGNOSIS OF CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS

Background. The clinical diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis is confi rmed by demonstrating the organism on a superficial smear or on a biop sy of the lesion. Misdiagnosis in a biopsy specimen may be due to scan ty Leishmania organisms that may not be identified in histologic secti ons. Methods. Punch biopsies of skin lesions, suspected clinically to be cutaneous leishmaniasis, from 29 patients were taken. Touch smears on slides were air-dried, fixed with methyl alcohol, and stained with Giemsa stain. Results of routine histologic examination were then comp ared with those of touch preparation.Results. Twenty-one cases were po sitive for leishmaniasis. In 18 cases, the organisms were seen both in the biopsy and in the touch preparation. In three cases, the organism s were only identified on touch preparation. Conclusions. A touch prep aration improves the sensitivity of the diagnosis of cutaneous leishma niasis without incurring additional cost to the laboratory.