tuberculoid leprosy

leprosy /lep·ro·sy/ (lep´rah-se) a chronic communicable disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae and characterized by the production of granulomatous lesions of the skin, mucous membranes, and peripheral nervous system. Two principal, or polar, types are recognized: lepromatous and tuberculoid.

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lepromatous leprosy  that form marked by the development of lepromas and by an abundance of leprosy bacilli from the onset; nerve damage occurs only slowly, and the skin reaction to lepromin is negative. It is the only form which may regularly serve as a source of infection.

tuberculoid leprosy  the form in which leprosy bacilli are few or lacking and nerve damage occurs early, so that all skin lesions are denervated from the onset, often with dissociation of sensation; the skin reaction to lepromin is positive, and the patient is rarely a source of infection to others.

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tuberculoid leprosy

n.

A benign, stable, and resistant form of leprosy in which the lepromin reaction is strongly positive but which shows little or no Mycobacterium leprae present in the tissues, and in which the lesions are inflamed, red, well-defined plaques that infiltrate the nervous tissue causing a loss of skin sensation as well as sensorimotor damage to nerves serving the area. Also called cutaneous leprosy, nodular leprosy.

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tuberculoid leprosy.

See leprosy.