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KMID : 0382619840040010373
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Hanyang Journal of Medicine
1984 Volume.4 No. 1 p.373 ~ p.381
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A Study on the Meissner´s Corpuscles in Patients with Leprosy
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Abstract
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The Meissner"s corpuscles, characterized by an oval, encapsulated corpuscular receptor, is approximately 30 by 80 in size and located almost exclusively in the dermal papillae of nonhairy skin, especially in the pads of palms and soles.
It is generally understood that the density of Meissner"s corpuscles has a tendency to decrease gradually with advancing age and it is also reduceed in the patients with a loss of touch sense due to a peripheral neuropathy.
This study was undertaken to confirm the quantitative differential of the corpuscles by age and in patients with leprosy which is a peripheral nerve disorder.
The skin specimens were obtained from the sites of the palmar pad between the 4th and the 5th finger of a total of 68 cases consisting of 37 cadavers whose palms appeared normal and 31 patients with leprosy.
The followings are the summary of the findings.
1. No substantial differences could be observed in the density between sexes of normal cases in each decade of life.
2. The highest density in normal cases turned out to be 3.93± 0.10 per square millimeter in the age group of 30-39 years and the lowest was 1.90± 0.87 in the age group of 70-79 years. The highly significant age differentials and the linear trend of densities as the age advance could be observed.
3. The specimens from the patients with leprosy showed a substantially lower density of Meissner"s corpuscles as compared to the normal cases in all age groups.
4. No significant differences could be detected in densities between the patients with lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy.
5. A similar pattern of reduction in density could be observed in both group of patients, one with disease for over 6 months and th others under 6 months.
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