Comparative DNA binding studies with clofazimine and B1912.

Lalit Bhutani in the last issue of the U L (45:67) has noted the relative sparing of the underside of the chin and the circumocular region and the upper lip in lepromatous patients and the more severe involvement of the malar eminence, the forehead, and the chin. He attributes this variation to the possible effect of photosensitivity. Sabin (Arch. Neurol. 20 [March 1969]; and U L 37 [1969]) describes the same pattern of involvement, measured by loss of sensation and showed that both on the face and also in the areas of the body that are ordinarily clothed the degree of sensory loss followed the pattern of local body temperature variations, the cooler areas being severely involved and the warmer areas being relatively spared , thus confirming the observations of Brand (UL 27 [1959] 1-7). I enclose a thermograph (cool areas dark, warm areas light) of a normal face (my own) which clearly shows the cool chin, nose, and malar area and the warmer underside of the chin, orbit and lips. The eyebrows are black because hair always shows black in a thermogram. Paul W. Brand, FRCS Chief; Rehabilitation Branch USPHS Hospital . Carville, Louisiana 70721