Efficacy of extended (six weeks) treatment with miltefosine for mucosal leishmaniasis in Bolivia.

We investigated whether increasing the period of follow-up or increasing the duration of therapy would markedly alter the 71% cure rate of mucosal leishmaniasis in Bolivia consequent to treatment with miltefosine for 4 weeks. Increasing the follow-up from 12 months to 24 months demonstrated additional relapse in only 2 of 41 patients. Increasing the period of therapy from 4 weeks to 6 weeks only increased the cure rate to 75%.

Efficacy of miltefosine for Bolivian cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Oral miltefosine (2.5 mg/kg/d for 28 days) was compared with intramuscular antimony (20 mg/kg/d for 20 days) in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania braziliensis in Palos Blancos, Bolivia. The cure rates with 6 months of follow-up were statistically similar: 36 of 41 evaluable miltefosine patients (88%) versus 15 of 16 (94%) evaluable antimony patients.