Central nervous system, spinal root ganglion and brachial plexus involvement in leprosy: A prospective study

Bibliographic Details
Title: Central nervous system, spinal root ganglion and brachial plexus involvement in leprosy: A prospective study
Authors: Sumit Verma, Ravindra Kumar Garg, Imran Rizvi, Hardeep Singh Malhotra, Neeraj Kumar, Amita Jain, Swastika Suvirya, Anit Parihar, Rajesh Verma, Praveen Kumar Sharma, Shweta Pandey, Ravi Uniyal, Shantanu Prakash
Source: Journal of Central Nervous System Disease, Vol 14 (2022)
Publisher Information: SAGE Publishing, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system
Subject Terms: Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system, RC346-429
More Details: Background Leprosy is primarily a disease of peripheral nerves. Some isolated case reports and case series have communicated imaging changes in the central nervous system (CNS) and brachial plexus in patients with leprosy. Objectives To study the neuroimaging abnormalities in patients with lepra bacilli-positive neuropathy in the context of CNS, spinal root ganglion, and brachial plexus. Design Prospective observational study Methods We screened newly-diagnosed patients with multibacillary leprosy presenting with neuropathy. Patients with bacilli-positive sural nerve biopsies were included in the study and subjected to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and spinal cord. Results A total of 54 patients with bacteriologically confirmed multibacillary leprosy were screened; Mycobacterium leprae was demonstrated in the sural nerve biopsies of 29 patients. Five patients (5/29; 17.24%) had MRI abnormalities in CNS, spinal root ganglion, and/or brachial plexus. Three patients had MRI changes suggestive of either myelitis or ganglionitis. One patient had T2/FLAIR hyperintensity in the middle cerebellar peduncle while 1 had T2/FLAIR hyperintensity in the brachial plexus. Conclusion CNS, spinal root ganglion, and brachial plexus are involved in patients with leprous neuropathy. Immunological reaction against M leprae antigen might be a plausible pathogenetic mechanism for brachial plexus and CNS imaging abnormalities.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1179-5735
11795735
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1179-5735
DOI: 10.1177/11795735221135477
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/f4ca91b90cca4e0eab96e6214999d628
Accession Number: edsdoj.f4ca91b90cca4e0eab96e6214999d628
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:11795735
DOI:10.1177/11795735221135477
Published in:Journal of Central Nervous System Disease
Language:English