Variables associated with the post-treatment healing of lesions in patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of several variables to the healing of lesions in patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL). The patients with clinical and/or laboratorial diagnoses of the disease were followed up for varying periods after treatment by clinical evaluation and indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), from September 2000 to December 2003. The lesions of 85.3% of the 163 patients had healed by their last return for clinical evaluation, and of these, 82.7% had negative IFA results, indicating an association between the healing of lesions and IFA negativity (p=0.000). In patients evaluated up to 120 days after treatment, there was a significant association between negative IFA results and the healing of lesions (p=0.0000). Logistic regression analysis showed that negative IFA results on patients' first return after treatment predicted a 2.175 fold greater chance of lesion healing (p=0.0001). These results indicate an association between IFA negativity at the first return up to a period of 120 days, and the healing of lesions, and that the chances of healing are significantly higher in patients with negative IFA results at their first return after treatment.