Ninhydrin sweat test in leprosy

Loss of sensation is an important feature of leprosy. Loss of sweating over the affected site due to loss of autonomic function occurs in leprosy. We have studied a simple, non-invasive, rapid method, using 1% ninhydrin in acetone, to detect loss of sweat function. The test was effective in detecting and grading the sweat function in 84 cases of different types of leprosy. We were able to detect normal sweating in 16 patients with hypopigmented lesion due to causes other than Hansen's disease.