Lucio's phenomenon: exuberant case report and review of Brazilian cases *

摘要

Lucioa??s phenomenon is an uncommon reaction characterized by severe necrotizing cutaneous lesions that occurs in patients with Lucioa??s leprosy and lepromatous leprosy. It is considered by some authors as a variant of type 2 or 3 reaction. Death can occur because of blood dyscrasia or sepsis. Precipitating factors include infections, drugs and pregnancy. We report a 31-year-old female patient exhibiting both clinical and histopathological features of lepromatous leprosy and Lucioa??s phenomenon presenting favorable response to treatment. We complement our report with a literature review of the Brazilian cases of Lucioa??s phenomenon published in Portuguese and English.