borderline leprosy
Last reviewed 01/2018
This term refers to the broad group of conditions lying somewhere between the extremes of tuberculoid and lepromatous leprosy. Borderline leprosy is subclassified as:
- borderline tuberculoid (BT)
- mid-borderline (BB), and
- borderline lepromatous (BL).
These states are immunologically unstable, and patients may shift towards either pole. Episodic reactions of two types may cause severe morbidity in patients with borderline leprosy, and usually follow the institution of drug therapy.