Prevention of repeated episodes of type 2 reaction of leprosy with the use of thalidomide 100 mg/day

Background: leprosy can have its course interrupted by type 1 and 2 reactional episodes,the last named of erythema nodosum leprosum (enl). thalidomide has been the medication of choice for the control of enl episodes since 1965. objectives: these episodes can repeat and cause damages to the patient. in order to prevent these episodes,an extra dose of 100 mg/day thalidomide was used during six months,followed by a follow- up period of six more months after thalidomide discontinuation. methods: we included 42 patients with multibacillary (mb) leprosy who had episodes of enl. they were male and female patients aged between 18 and 84 years. results: of the 42 patients,39 (92.85%) had the lepromatous form and three (7.15%) had the borderline form. we found that 100% of patients had no reactional episode during the use of the drug. during the followup period after thalidomide discontinuation,33 (78.57%) patients had no reactional episode and nine (21.43%),all of them with the lepromatous form,had mild episodes,which were controlled using non-steroidal antiinflammatory. there were no thalidomide-related side effects. conclusion: a maintenance dose of 100 mg/day of thalidomide showed to be effective to prevent repeated type 2 reactional episodes of enl. © 2014 by anais brasileiros de dermatologia.