An evaluation of 5 laboratory methods for diagnosing American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) was carried out on patients from an endemic area of Brazil. From 164 patients presenting cutaneous lesions, and suspected to have ACL, 133 (81.1%) were confirmed for the disease by Montenegro skin test (MST) and/or parasitologic examination (PE). In both groups of patients, the positivity of polymerase chain reaction (PC...