[The frequency of the appearance of perforating foot ulcers in patients with Hansen's disease as a function of treatment with disulone alone or with polychemotherapy].

Between 1986 and 1989, in 5 departments of Senegal, 436 new cases of leprosy were detected, of whom 225 were put under dapsone monotherapy and 211 under multidrug therapy (MDT). Of them, 190 could be followed-up during 2 years by means of annual bacteriological and clinical examination, including neurological assessment. In 2 years, the onset of 10 (5.3%) chronic plantar ulcers (CPU) was observed: 4 (4%) among the 99 patients under dapsone monotherapy and 6 (6.6%) among the 91 under MDT (no significant difference). Of the 10 CPU, 3 (2%) appeared among the 149 patients without any disability at detection while 7 (17%) were observed among the 41 others who presented a grade 1 disability at detection (p < 0.01). Of the 6 CPU appeared in the patients under MDT, 5 (22%) were observed among the 23 who presented a grade 1 disability at detection and 1 (1.5%) among the 68 who did not (p < 0.01). This difference was not noted in the patients under dapsone monotherapy. Our results need to be confirmed by other studies including a higher number of patients followed-up during a longer period of time. Nevertheless, they suggest that MDT could prevent the onset of CPU, but only in patients without any disability at detection. Therefore, they reemphasize the importance of early detection of the disease in leprosy control programmes.