Introduction: Leprosy is a chronic, granulomatous infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae with long incubation period and primarily affects skin and peripheral nerves. Objective of the study is to correlate clinical diagnosis of new leprosy cases with that of histopathological diagnosis. Methods: This study was carried on skin biopsies of 34 newly diagnosed leprosy patients, from June 2017 to May 2019. Routine histopathological processing was done and paraffin sections were stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin, followed by Fite Faraco stain. Release from treatment, partially treated cases and those with lepra reactions were not included in this study. Results: From this study it was observed that, the commonest age group affected by leprosy was 21 to 50 years, males are more commonly affected than female (M:F = 2.09:1) and the most common clinically diagnosed spectrum was Borderline Tuberculoid. Complete agreement between clinical diagnosis and histopathological diagnosis was observed in 64.7% cases and disagreement in 34.3% cases. Conclusion: Leprosy classified by clinical parameters considers only their gross appearance while classification based on histopathological parameters is well defined and accurate and consider the immunological manifestations as well. Thus, histopathological examination helps in making definitive diagnosis and skin biopsy remains gold standard even today.

Keywords: Leprosy; Borderline Tuberculoid; Mycobacterium Leprae; Fite Faraco.