Evaluation of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with Slit Skin Smear Examination (SSS) to Confirm Clinical Diagnosis of Leprosy in Eastern Nepal.

Our study showed PCR to be more sensitive than SSS microscopy in diagnosing leprosy. Moreover, it explored the characteristic feature of PCR which detected higher level of early stage(PB) cases tested negative by SSS. Being an expensive technique, PCR may not be feasible in all the cases, however, it would be useful in diagnosis of early cases of leprosy as opposed to SSS.