On histopathological monitoring of an immunotherapeutic trial with Mycobacterium w
To the Editor:
With reference to the article published in the JOURNAL (Vol. 60, No. 1 March 1992 pp. 28-35) entitled "Histopathological Monitoring of an Immunotherapeutic Trial with Mycobacterium w," we wish to offer the following comments.
1. It is quite unusual to see so much difference in the number of patients belonging to experimental and control groups with random allocation. It is also not clear as to why 16 patients belonging to the I and BT groups were included in the trial and put on multibacillary MDT instead of paucibacillary MDT.
2. Data from biopsies taken 12 and 24 months alone were presented. It is not understood why the information available at 6 and 18 months was not presented.
3. The fall in the bacterial index (Bl) to 0 will be a good indicator if the initial Bis of the two groups were comparable. The article is silent about the initial Bis of the groups.
4. It is doubtful whether the granuloma fraction (GF) could be a useful indicator of immunotherapeutic effect when it is known that the GF shows considerable variation within the same lesion and at different planes of the same biopsy specimen.
- Dr. B. N. Reddy
Director
- Dr. D. Porichha
Assistant Director
Regional Leprosy Training and Research Institute
Raipur
Madhya Pradesh, India