W. H. van Brakel

Early diagnosis of neuropathy in leprosy - comparing diagnostic tests in a large prospective study (the INFIR Cohort Study) (2008)

Van Brakel, W.H., Nicholls, P.G., Wilder-Smith, E.P., Das, L., Barkataki, P., Lockwood, D.N.J

Background Leprosy is the most frequent treatable neuromuscular disease. Yet, every year, thousands of patients develop permanent peripheral nerve damage as a result of leprosy. Since early detection...

A scale to assess the severity of leprosy reactions (2007)

Van Brakel, W.H., Nicholls, P.G., Lockwood, N.J., Sundar Rao, P.S., Smith, W.C.S.

Recognising and assessing the clinical signs and severity of leprosy reactions is essential for diagnosis and treatment. To promote such awareness there is a potential role for a severity scale that...

Do self-reported changes in life situations have a role in screening for individuals at risk of participation restrictions? (2006)

Nicholls, P.G., Bakirtzief, Z., Van Brakel, W.H., Das-Pattanayak, R., Norman, G., Raju, M.S., ...

This research focussed on the importance of leprosy affected persons' self-reported changes in life situations as indicators of underlying change in participation status as defined by World Health...

Risk factors for participation restriction in leprosy and development of a screening tool to identify individuals at risk (2005)

Nicholls, P.G., Bakirtzief, Z., Van Brakel, W.H., Das-Pattanaya, R.K., Raju, M.S., Norman, G., ...

Summary: The World Health Organisation International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health defines participation as involvement in a life situation. Participation restrictions are...

The INFIR Cohort Study: Assessment of sensory and motor neuropathy in leprosy at baseline (2005)

Van Brakel, W.H., Nicholls, P.G., Das, L., Barkataki, P., Maddali, P., Lockwood, D.N.J., ...

Aim: To compare different method(s) to detect peripheral neuropathy in leprosy and to study the validity of the monofilament test (MF) and the voluntary muscle test (VMT) as standard tests of nerve...

The INFIR Cohort Study: Investigating prediction, detection and pathogenesis of neuropathy and reactions in leprosy. Methods and baseline results of a cohort of multibacillary leprosy patients in North India (2005)

Van Brakel, W.H., Nicholls, P.G, Das, L., Barkataki, P., Suneetha, S.K., Jadhav, R.S., ...

The aim of this study was to find predictors of neuropathy and reactions, determine the most sensitive methods for detecting peripheral neuropathy, study the pathogenesis of neuropathy and reactions...

Steroid prophylaxis for prevention of nerve function impairment in leprosy: randomised placebo controlled trial (TRIPOD1) (2004)

Smith, W.C.S., Anderson, A.M., Withington, S.G., Croft, R.P., Van Brakel, W.H., Nicholls, P.G., ...

Objective: To determine whether addition of low dose prednisolone to multidrug treatment can prevent reaction and nerve function impairment in leprosy. Design: Multicentre, double blind, randomised,...

Adverse events of standardized regimens of corticosteroids for prophylaxis and treatment of nerve function impairment in leprosy: Results from the TRIPOD trials (2003)

Richardus, J.H., Withington, S.G., Anderson, A.M., Croft, R.P., Nicholls, P.G., Van Brakel, W.H., ...

Reactions in leprosy causing nerve function impairment (NFI) are increasingly treated with standardized regimens of corticosteroids, often under field conditions. Safety concerns led to an assessment...

Treatment with corticosteroids of long-standing nerve function impairment in leprosy: a randomised control trial (TRIPOD 3) (2003)

Richardus, J.H., Withington, S.G., Anderson, A.M., Croft, R.P., Nicholls, P.G., Van Brakel, W.H., ...

Some leprosy patients with long-standing nerve function impairment (NFI) appear to have responded favourably to treatment with corticosteroids. This study investigated whether patients with untreated...

The prognostic importance of detecting mild sensory impairment in leprosy: A randomised controlled trial (TRIPOD 2) (2003)

Van Brakel, W.H., Anderson, A.M., Withington, S.G., Croft, R.P., Nicholls, P.G., Richardus, J.H., ...

This study was designed to investigate whether leprosy patients diagnosed with mild sensory impairment have a better prognosis when treated with steroids than similarly impaired patients treated with...