Hypopigmented Face Patches; Their Distribution and Relevance to ...

390^ International Journal ofLeprosv^ 1999
Location
TABU. 4. Location offacial patches and ocular coniplications.
No.
Decreased vision Madarosis Lagophthalmos Other complications"
No. % No. (X, No. (3. No.
Around right eye 39 7 17.9% 3 7.7e/c 6 15.4% 8 20.5%
Around left eye 38 7 18.4% 4 10.5% 5 13.2% 7 18.4%
Forehead 39 7 17.9% 5 12.8% 6 15.4% 9 23.1%
Temple 30 6 20.0% -) 6.7% 3 10.0% 6 20.0%
Cheek 70 II 15.7% 6 8.6% 7 10.0% 18 25.7%
Chin 25 7 28.0% 3 12.0% -) 8.0% 7 28.0%
Central face IS i 13.3% 1 6.7% 9 60.0% 4 26.7%
'Other coniplications = Cataract, pterygiuni, corneal opacities, iridocyclitis.
lar branches. Most patches overlapped and
were not contined to the arcas supplied by
any one of the three major divisions of the
trigeminal nerve.
The important finding in this study is the
association between the presence of hypopigmented
patches on the face and decreased
corneal sensation. Patients with hypopigmentation
over the face were three to
four times more likely to have impaired
colmeal sensation than patients without any
hypopigmented facial patches. The location
of the hypopigmented patches over the face
did not signiticantly alter this association.
Patches around the eye and over the zygomatic
arca were equally as significant as
those over the nose, forehead and chin. Increasing
age can decrease corneal sensation,
but our study showed that even after
adjusting for age, the signiticance of assoeiation
between decreased corneal sensation
and hypopigmented patches over the face
remained almost the same. Anesthesia over
the face together with hypopigmentation
proved to be more signiticantly associated
with decreased corneal sensation than anesthesia
over the face without hypopigmentation
(p