Skin ulcers by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis are often deep and irregular and are difficult to measure by just the skin surface transverse and longitudinal diameters. The proposal is to mould the cavity, after local asepsis with fresh water plus soap, with a gelatinous plastic which contains silice, potassium alginate, calcium sulphate,magnesium oxide commercialized under the name of jeltrate® (Dentsply Laboratory), by solving 9-5g of jeltrate® in 20ml of fresh water and applying the gel on the ulcer which solidifies in 5 minutes. This mould is then filled with a self polymerising aciylic and its volume measured either by weight (by using an analytical balance) - technique 1 - or by water displacement by applying Archimeds'principle - technique 2. We shoiu data in a field trial before and after 20 days treatment in 20 patients using three different schedules as follows: 7 received pentamidine isethionate, 7 patients received aminosidine sulphate and 6 received meglumine antimoniate. Tloe results point out that there was a uniforme reduction of ulcer volume occurred during this period in the three groups, in both technique. Regarding the therapeutic schedules we are sure that there was a significant statistical difference between the three schedules using the TStudent Test, which showed that aminosidine sulphate produced a better volume reduction of the ulcer than the other drugs. Serial moulds reflect clinical healing and ai'e a permanent record. We conclude that the measure of the volume of the skin ulceration can be usefull in the therapeutic evaluation, as a practical and cheap procedure, and 7nay be used in field trials..
Tegumentary leishmaniasis; Treatment of American tegumentary leishmaniasis; Measure of ulcers volume