Lucio's leprosy: a clinical and therapeutic challenge.

Leprosy has been a challenge in different areas of medicine; in underdeveloped countries it remains a public health problem, in which the social and economic problems facilitate the disease persistence. The diagnosis and consequently the treatment are delayed due to the clinical polymorphism of leprosy, which especially at the beginning the manifestations are not as evident, as is the case of diffuse lepromatous leprosy. This favors the disabilities and the development of the reaction episodes. Fortunately, reaction episodes have decreased with the use of multidrug therapy, and better control of the type 2 reactions has been managed with the use of thalidomide, as in Lucio's phenomenon.