Thalidomide in type-2 lepra reaction--a clinical experience.

A clinical experience of using thalidomide in type-2 lepra reaction (ENL) in 90 male patients--57 with lepromatous leprosy (LL) and 33 with borderline lepromatous leprosy (BL)--is described. All the patients responded well although some took a longer time to improve. No major side effects were observed except for giddiness in 10 and gastrointestinal upsets in 7 patients. Thalidomide thus appears to be a very effective drug in the treatment of severe type-2 lepra reaction and apart from its historically well-documented embryopathic effects, does not seem to have any other serious side effects in the patients under study.