lepromatous leprosy

9.8

A severe disease that causes many skin sores and can affect nerves and other body parts

noun
/ˌlɛprəˈmætəs ˈlɛprəsi/

Specialized

: lepra lepromatosa

The patient was diagnosed with lepromatous leprosy after doctors observed diffuse skin lesions and nerve involvement.

Examples

Unlike tuberculoid leprosy, lepromatous leprosy can cause disfigurement and affect internal organs.
Treatment for lepromatous leprosy requires a combination of antibiotics over an extended period.
The patient was diagnosed with lepromatous leprosy last year.
What are the symptoms of lepromatous leprosy?
The patient was diagnosed with lepromatous leprosy after doctors observed diffuse skin lesions and nerve involvement.
Treatment for lepromatous leprosy requires a combination of antibiotics over an extended period.
Unlike tuberculoid leprosy, lepromatous leprosy can cause disfigurement and affect internal organs.

How Severe

lepromatous leprosy

Specialized

9.8

tuberculoid leprosy

Specialized

9.9

Surface Forms

lepromatous leprosy singular

lepromatous leprosies plural

Morphology

lepromatous + leprosy

The adjective 'lepromatous' is clearly morphologically related to the noun 'leprosy', so a learner who knows 'leprosy' can reasonably infer this phrase denotes a type or form of that disease. However, the specific clinical nuance (that it is a severe, widespread systemic form with characteristic lesions) is specialized medical information not fully predictable from the constituents, making the expression only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Lepromatous leprosy comes from the old word lepro- meaning 'scaly' and the ending -matous meaning 'full of'. The name paints a picture of many scaly skin patches and sores all over the body, so it refers to the 'severe' form of leprosy that affects many parts of the body.