As described at length in Chap. 41, in virtually all patients with alcoholic–nutritional polyneuropathy who remain untreated with vitamin and protein restoration, the weakness and atrophy of the legs, and to a lesser extent the arms, may reach an extreme degree. Thus this disease, although subacute in its evolution as described earlier in the chapter, becomes a frequent cause of chronic polyneuropathy. There are usually prominent sensory features and considerable acral pain and allodynia. Certain cases of diabetic neuropathy behave similarly.
This is the best example of an infectious neuritis, caused by the direct invasion of nerves by the acid-fast Mycobacterium leprae. The disease is still frequent in India and Central Africa and there are many lesser endemic foci, including parts of South America and Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, which border the Gulf of Mexico. Limited outbreaks have been reported during treatment for HIV, with armadillos as the probable intermediate host.
The initial lesion in leprosy is an innocuous-appearing skin macule or papule, which is often hypopigmented and lacking in sensation; it is caused by the invasion of cutaneous nerves by M. leprae. In patients with a degree of immunologic resistance to infection, the disease progresses no further than this stage, which is spoken of as indeterminate leprosy, or it may evolve in several ways, depending mainly upon the resistance of the host. The bacilli may be locally invasive, producing a circumscribed epithelioid granuloma that involves cutaneous and subcutaneous nerves and results in a characteristic hypopigmented patch of superficial numbness and sensory loss (tuberculoid leprosy). The underlying subcutaneous sensory nerves may be palpably enlarged. If a large nerve in the vicinity of the granuloma is invaded (the ulnar, median, peroneal, posterior auricular, and facial nerves are most frequently affected), a sensorimotor deficit in the distribution of that nerve is added to the patch of cutaneous anesthesia.
In contrast to the limited tuberculoid variety of leprosy, lack of resistance to the organism permits the proliferation and hematogenous spread of bacilli and the diffuse infiltration of skin, ciliary bodies, testes, lymph nodes, and nerves (lepromatous leprosy). Widespread invasion of the cutaneous nerves produces a symmetrical pattern of pain and temperature loss involving the pinnae of the ears (earlobes) and nose, as well as the dorsal surfaces of hands, elbows, forearms, and feet and anterolateral aspects of the legs—a distribution that is determined by the relative coolness of these parts of the skin. This temperature-dependent pattern is the most characteristic feature of the disease, as pointed out by our colleague TD Sabin. The sensory maps he has drawn (Fig. 43-4) are typical of established cases. The process evolves over years. Eventually, the anesthesia spreads to involve most of the cutaneous surface. Extensive sensory loss is followed by impaired motor function owing to invasion of muscular nerves where they lie closest to the skin (the ulnar nerve is the most vulnerable). There is loss of sweating in areas of sensory loss but otherwise the autonomic nervous system is unaffected. In distinction to other polyneuropathies, tendon reflexes are usually preserved in leprosy despite widespread sensory loss. Probably this is the result of sparing of most of the muscular and larger sensory nerves. Because of widespread anesthesia, injuries may pass unrecognized, with resultant infections, trophic changes, and loss of tissue. Variations in host immunity result in patterns of disease having both tuberculoid and lepromatous characteristics (dimorphous leprosy). Erythema nodosum occurs in a few cases. The diagnosis can be made from a skin scraping or biopsy, but multiple samples are often required.