Bulbar palsy appearing in leprosy patients

Abstract

1) The recent occurrence of four cases of bulbar palsy in leprosy reported. These are male patients, two of them are lepromatous and the others are tuberculoid and borderline leprosy.
2) At the beginning of the bulbar palsy the patients complained of headache, pain in the occipital region and the neck, toothache without caries, and double vision.
3) The patients showed difficulty in speech, swallowing, and mastication. Paralysis of the soft palate and facial palsy were also seen. Disturbance of the taste, marked salivation, increasing the anesthesia on the faces were recognized.
4) The patients were treated mainly with cortisone, Vitamine B12, B1, and aspiration pneumonia were prevented by antibiotics.
5) The patients have been improving progressively and have continued to fed well with the exception of one patient who complains of the salivation.
6) The causes of these bulbar palsy in leprosy are not detectable but the symptoms may be supposed to be a leprosy reaction.