Evaluation of sodium stibogluconate in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Syria.

A series of 31 patients presenting with skin lesions with positive smears for leishmania parasites were treated with sodium stibogluconate (each ml of injection containing the equivalent of 100 mg pentavalent antimony). The drug was administered either intramuscularly at a dosage of 6 ml daily for at least 10 days or infiltrated around the lesion (maximum 2 ml per lesion) at weekly intervals for 3 to 4 consecutive weeks. Twenty-four (77%) of the patients were assessed as showing a successful response, with parasites absent from the smear and the lesions healing at the end of treatment. Poor results, however, were reported in 5 of the 16 patients treated solely by infiltration. Follow-up of a few patients at 3 months showed that the healing process was prompt and little disfiguration was produced, lesions on the trunk tending to heal more quickly than those on the face.