Out of 742 out-patients screened for ocular disease, 177 (24%) had eye lesions due to leprosy. These were more in the lepromatous spectrum of the disease and showed increasing trend with age of patient and duration of the disease. Madarosis was the commonest lesion (76%). The serious and sight threatening lesions like lagophthalmos, corneal anaesthesia, corneal opacities and ulcers, iritis and complicated cataracts constituted 8·22% of the lesions. Blindness due to corneal opacity and

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... d cataract developed in 6 patients, constituting 3·4% of eye lesions with a prevalence rate of 0·8% among all the leprosy patients. Although the blinding lesions occurred in a very small percentage of patients, most of these are preventable through early recognition and institution of appropriate treatment. The simple techniques of examination to detect protentially sight threatening lesions should be taught to all leprosy workers to prevent blindness among leprosy patients. Estimates from India on the magnitude of ocular complications in leprosy vary from 5 to 80%.1.2 Such wide variations may be due to the differences in methodology of assessment, populations studied, sampling designs and definitions adopted. Without a scientifically designed study, it is difficult to establish the role of clinical or epidemiological factors in ocular lesions of leprosy. A study was carried out on an un selected sample of patients seeking care for leprosy and not just for eye problems. The eyes of these patients were carefully examined using standardized techniques. This paper presents the types and extent of ocular lesions in leprosy and discusses the ocular disease from the point of view of disability and morbidity. Materials and methods Seven hundred and forty-two consecutive leprosy patients seen at the general out-patient clinic of the Schieffelin Leprosy Research and Training Centre, Karigiri, were included in this study. Each patient was examined carefully and the findings on age, sex, occupation, type of leprosy, 0305-75 1 8/89/060033 +06 $0 1 ·00 © British Leprosy Relief Association