EYE DISEASE IN NEWLY-DIAGNOSED LEPROSY PATIENTS IN EASTERN NEPAL

To determine the magnitude of eye lesions in newly diagnosed leprosy p atients we examined their eyes. The Eastern Leprosy Control Project wa s supported by The Netherlands Leprosy Relief Association; we used the regional clinic in Biratnagar and 5 mobile clinics in surrounding dis tricts as our survey area. All patients who presented at the clinics o ver 10 weeks, diagnosed as having untreated leprosy were included. Of the 260 examined patients 97 (37.3%, 95% confidence interval 28.3-40.3 %) had an eye lesion; 12/260 patients (4.6%, 95% confidence interval 2 .0-7.2%) had sight-threatening lesions (lagophthalmos, iris involvemen t, corneal anaesthesia), directly related to leprosy; 46 (17.7%) patie nts were diagnosed as having some degree of cataract; 2 patients were aphakic; 3 patients (1.2%) were blind according to the WHO definition. In this series of new and untreated leprosy patients many eye lesions found are not relevant or leprosy related. There were 9 new patients with lagophthalmos, some too longstanding to treat with steroids. We f ound 3 patients with iris involvement. The figures we found for eye le sions, sight-threatening lesions and blindness are low when compared t o other studies. The number of patients with any grade of cataract is high. The average total of leprosy patients who were blind can be comp ared with the average total who are blind in the general population.