Sharaf Ali Shah, Abdul Aziz Memon, Auwj-e-shamim, Shehla Baqi, Richard Witzig.
Low-cost thermotherapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sindh, Pakistan.
J Pak Med Assoc Jan ;64(12):1398-404.

Objective: To study the efficacy of a low-cost heating pack device used for thermotherapy in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Methods: The study was conducted at the Department of Dermatology, Civil Hospital Sukkur, Pakistan, from April 20, 2012, to January 3, 2013. Thermotherapy with Hand-Held Exothermic Crystallisation Therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis was performed on each lesion of the participating subjects at an average initial temperature of 51.6°C for 3 minutes daily for 7 days. Patients were followed regularly for 6 months after the therapy. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Even though all 27 patients completed 1 week of thermotherapy, only 23(85.2%) patients could be evaluated for full treatment response since 4(14.8%) were lost to complete follow-up. By the final 180-day evaluation, 19 (83%) patients had been cured. Applications were well tolerated with no side effects. Conclusion: The devise was a convenient, safe, non-toxic and effective treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis at a fraction of the cost of standard antimonial treatment. Further studies are needed to certify its safety and efficacy as monotherapy for the condition.

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