©2005 by Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia Retreatment of leprosy relapse* O retratamento por recidiva em hanseníase*

Abstract: BACKGROUND- Studies concerning re-treated leprosy patients are justified by the difficulty in differential diagnosis between a reactional state following the end of a specific treatment for leprosy and its relapse, owing to limitations in clinical and laboratorial criteria to dis-tinguish them. OBJECTIVES- To verify diagnostic procedures (clinical and laboratorial) that subsidized relapse treat-ment and occurrence of reactional episodes, in particular those that occurred after treatment com-pletion. METHODS- A hundred fifty-five leprosy patients retreated for relapse in two leprosy reference units in the municipality of Recife/PE, Brazil, in a retrospective case series study. RESULTS- Clinical criterion was the most used to decide for re-treatment of relapse, and new described lesions were mainly of macular and infiltrative type. Reactional episodes after discharge occurred in 34 % of these patients, and 33.9 % related the presence of contacts with hansenasis. Only 14.9 % of the 155 studied patients had histological examinations performed, and 18.1 % did not have bacilloscopy carried out before re-initiating specific therapy. CONCLUSION- This study has shown that post-treatment reactional episodes and presence of contact