Hansen's disease is a malady that has high incidence levels in Brazil. It has a chronic bacterial origin, with high infectivity and low pathogenicity, having the man as its primary host, and the Mycobacterium leprae as its etiological agent. The Hansen's bacillus, as it is known, accumulates mainly in the skin, the peripheral nerves and the cranial nerves pairs, causing many skin lesions, as well as loss of neural conduction and, consequently, severe anatomical and functional changes in the ends of the body, such as members and the orofacial region. Based on these premisses, it was carried out a literature review in order to show the pathophysiology of the disease and its classification according to its manifestations. The literature review showed, through some studies, that the disease might cause alterations that significantly compromise the voice, the hearing, the phonoarticulatory organs, and the stomatognathic functions, thus becoming relevant to be studied in Speech-Language Pathology.
Leprosy; Temperature sense; Cranial nerves; Stomatognathic system; Hearing loss; Voice quality