and the United States is often delayed.
The median
time from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis
in a series of 28 patients at the Hospital for Tropical
Diseases in London between 1995 and 1998 was
1.5 years (range, 0.2 to 15.2). Forty-three percent
of the patients came from the Indian subcontinent,
and 25 percent from Africa. Misdiagnosis of the
condition as another dermatologic or neurologic
disease was an important reason for the delay. The
time from entry into the United Kingdom to diagnosis
ranged from 0.2 to 47.8 years. Points at which
the diagnosis was delayed were identified as evaluation
by a general practitioner (10 of the 28 patients),
orthopedic surgeon (5 of the patients), or neurologist
(3 of the patients) or evaluation at the Hospital
for Tropical Diseases (2 of the patients). Two of the
akoma s'ka mbaruar...durim edhe pak
