The efficacy of topical human amniotic membranemesenchymal stem cell-conditioned medium (hAMMSC-CM) and a mixture of topical hAMMSC-CM + vitamin C and hAMMSC-CM + vitamin E on chronic plantar ulcers in leprosy: A randomized control trial, Journal of Dermatological Treatment,

Background: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, which tends to attack peripheral nerves and skin. The diagnosis of leprosy is based on the presence of one of three cardinal signs. Early diagnosis of leprosy is critical and is made through clinical examination and investigation. Purpose: To discuss the diagnosis, laboratory examination, and treatment of leprosy, considering that early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are the key elements in breaking the chain of transmission and preventing leprosy patients' disabilities. Review: Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium leprae. Based on clinical appearance, histopathology findings, and immunological, leprosy is grouped into six forms using the Ridley-Jopling classification, namely Tuberculoid (TT), Borderline Tuberculoid (BT), Borderline-borderline Mid-borderline (BB), Borderline-lepromatous (BL), Subpolar Lepromatous (LLs), and Polar Lepromatous (LLp). Based on the treatment category, leprosy is grouped into paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB). Leprosy is often diagnosed clinically, and skin scraping smear remains the preferred laboratory method. The negative results of smear skin scraping may not necessarily exclude leprosy. Therefore, a higher sensitivity test might be needed to detect M. leprae. Treatment with Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT) is adjusted based on the type of leprosy, whether it belongs to the PB or MB group. Treatment of PB type, regimens are rifampicin and dapsone, while in MB type, the patients received rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine regimens. Conclusion: A proper diagnosis for leprosy, both through physical examination and laboratory examination, is required to determine an effective MDT treatment and break the chain of disease transmission.

Background: According to WHO data, the number of new cases of leprosy has decreased in 2019. However, Indonesia continues to provide a significant number of cases. According to statistics, India, Brazil, and Indonesia account for 79 percent of all instances. Purpose: This study aims to describe the profile of leprosy patients, and involves all Dermatology and Venereology Academic Hospitals in Indonesia. Methods: This study was a retrospective study of 2461 patients from Dermatology and Venereology Outpatient Clinic at 13 Academic Hospitals in Indonesia between January 2018 and December 2020. Result: Subjects in this study were dominated by males (66.8%) and aged > 14 years (95.3%). The most common type of leprosy was multibacillary (MB) (86.2%), and erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) was the most leprosy reaction (20.3%). Majority of the subjects experienced disability in the hands (26.6%), in grade 1. Conclusion: Leprosy cases in Indonesia are mostly experienced by adult males. The most common type of leprosy is MB, with ENL being the most common leprosy reaction. Grade 1 disability is the most prevalent, therefore proper education is necessary to keep patients from progressing to grade 2 disability.

Background: Erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) has a chronic and recurrent nature which could reduce patient’s quality of life in addition to the onset of ENL that occurs before, during, or after multidrug treatment, further emphasizing the importance of regular control and education.Purpose:This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology, onset, duration, and recurrence of ENL. Methods:Data from medical records were obtained for a 3-year retrospective study of multibacillary leprosy patients at the Leprosy Division of the Dermatology and Venereology Outpatient Department, Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya, with a minimum of 2–5 years follow-up period.Result:The prevalence of  ENL continued to increase almost every year especially in 2017 (32% in 2015; 32% in 2016; and 36% in 2017). ENL most often occurs during the first year of multi-drug therapy (MDT) administration followed by after the release from treatment (RFT) with the latest onset occurring 4 years after RFT. The majority of patients experienced chronic and recurrent reactions with the longest reactions lasting up to 4.5 years (55 months). Conclusion:Knowledge about the onset, duration, and recurrences of ENL are essential, and strict supervision for routine control shall be encouraged to increase the patients’ compliance so as to increase their quality of life.

Background: In 2007, skin cancers were third most common malignancies in Indonesia. However, profile of cutaneous tumors in our institution has not been studied. Purpose: To evaluate profile of cutaneous tumors in Dermatology and Venerology Outpatient Clinic, Dr. Soetomo General Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia. Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective study. Inclusion criteria was new cutaneous tumor patients. Exclusion criteria was incomplete data. Medical record and  photograph database from 2019-2020 were assessed for demography, clinical features, histopathological examination and final diagnosis. Results: There were 379 (5,5%) cutaneous tumors among 6896 new patients at Dermatology and Venereology Outpatient Clinic. Overall, there were more female patients (53.7%) and age group of 0-45 years old (70.4%). Cutaneous tumors more commonly presented as papular (50.4%), multiple (56.5%), nonpigmented (58.3%), asymptomatic lesions (62.5%), with time from onset 0-24 months (66.2%) and location on head and face (61.2%). Benign cutaneous tumors showed similar findings. Malignant cutaneous tumors showed differences including predominantly male sex, age above 45 years old, nodular, solitary, pigmented and easily bleeding lesions. Malignant tumors were less common (6.9%). Most common malignant tumor was BCC. Most common benign and overall cutaneous tumor was seborrheic keratosis. Conclusion: Cutaneous  tumors presented across gender and ages, showing heterogenous clinical manifestations. Malignant and benign cutaneous tumors showed similarity on time from onset and location of lesions. However, differences were seen in demographic profiles and majority of clinical features. BCC was the most common malignant cutaneous tumors, while seborrheic keratosis was the most common benign and overall cutaneous tumors.

The high prevalence among children shows continued transmission from adult and lack of disease control by the health system. Detection of anti-NDO-LID-1 has been known to be more effective to predict the development of leprosy in household contacts than just detecting PGL-1 or LID- 1 alone. However, serodiagnosis is not available in poorer-settings area and the procedure (venepuncture) is still inconvenient to some people. These problems can be solved by using finger-prick blood sample on filter paper. This study aims to prove the effectiveness of using capillary blood samples on filter paper to detect the positivity of Ig G antibody against NDO-LID-1 antigen in asymptomatic household contacts. Seventeen samples of capillary blood on filter paper and sera were tested for IgG anti-NDO-LID-1 using ELISA. There was no significant difference between IgG level from filter paper and serum (p=0.754) and there was also a strong positive correlation (R=0.906) between the two procedures. These findings show that the use of filter paper and NDO-LID-1 is worthy of further investigations, especially for those with lower bacillary load or contacts of leprosy patients.

BACKGROUND: Leprosy or Hansen’s disease is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) bacilli which results in chronic infections in humans that affect the peripheral nerves, skin, and other organs such as the eyes, mucous membranes, bones, and testicles. Leprosy has a variety of clinical presentations, depending on the cell-mediated immunity of the host. Leprosy is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as paucibacillary type (PB) and multibacillary type (MB) depending on the number of lesions. This multicenter study aims to provide representation of leprosy types and its epidemiology in Indonesia. AIM: The purpose of this study is to find out the epidemiology according to the leprosy type in 13 teaching hospitals in Indonesia between 2018 and 2020. METHODS: This is a descriptive study with cross-sectional design. All patients with the diagnosis of PB or MB type of leprosy who underwent Multidrug Therapy (MDT) treatment between 2018 and 2020 were included in this study. Data collection was carried out by tracing medical records data in 13 teaching hospitals in Indonesia. RESULTS: A total of 2129 leprosy patients were included in this study. There were 232 cases (10.8%) of PB leprosy and 1897 cases (89.1%) of MB leprosy. The average age of the patients is 38.7 years (SD ± 16.2 years). Males are more affected by leprosy (n = 1,441; 67.7%) compared to female (n = 688; 32.3%). CONCLUSION: Leprosy remains as a national health problem. The increasing cases of MB leprosy in Indonesia are caused by several factors including the lack of knowledge about leprosy, the delay in diagnosis of leprosy, and the stigma of leprosy within the community; therefore, it becomes a challenge to eliminate leprosy in Indonesia.

Background: Strengthening the argument for better problem solving can reduce excessive worry, so as to reduce fear due to leprosy disability, because the impact arising from leprosy disability can affect the chosen coping strategy. Methods: The purpose of this study was to test the model of the relationship between resilience, coping resources, and coping through structural equation modeling to identify the role of disability fear as a mediator. The leprosy disability fear scale, coping resources scale, and coping scale have been used to collect data, with 125 participants involved in this study through convenience sampling, consisting of women (33.60%), men 66.40 %. Structural equation model is used to test through cross-sectional design. Results: The results of the study report that there is a negative relationship between coping resources and fear of leprosy disability, and it is known that there is a positive relationship with coping. Meanwhile, The test results showed a negative relationship between resilience and fear of leprosy disability, and a positive relationship with coping. Furthermore, to coping, fear of leprosy disability shows a negative relationship. Conclusion: Coping in seeking health assistance is strongly influenced by resilience and coping resources, both directly and indirectly through the mediator of fear of leprosy disability. As a result, in seeking health assistance, individuals who have strong self-defense and have extensive coping resources, have adaptive coping, thereby reducing the fear of leprosy disability, and thus can maintain adaptive coping during the leprosy healing process.