THE STUDY OF CLINICAL AND LABORATORY PROFILE OF FALCIPARUM MALARIA AND CORRELATION OF HEPATIC DYSFUNCTION WITH MORTALITY OF PATIENTS: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Baheti Rajesh*, Kumar Deepak and Bohra G. K.

ABSTRACT

Background and objectives: Malaria is a major public health problem in the developing world. The remarkable mortality and morbidity in falciparum malaria is due to its dreaded manifestation, multiorgan involvement and dysfunction, late diagnosis and delayed in initiation of proper and adequate treatment. Hepatic involvement in malaria is common and severe hepatic dysfunction is an harbinger of poor outcome .As such we planned a study of clinical and laboratory profile of Falciparum Malaria and relationship of hepatic dysfunction to treatment outcome. Methodology: This was a hospital based prospective observational study, conducted in a tertiary healthcare center in Western Rajasthan. 40 consecutive confirmed patients with P. falciparum malaria of age >18 years were included in the study and their clinical and laboratory data were collected and analyzed. Results: Total 40 patients were included in the study, out of which 22 (55%) were males and 18 (45%) were females. Fever was the most common symptom observed (100%), followed by headache (50%). The most common sign observed was pallor (85%), followed by splenomegaly (60%). Hepatic dysfunction was present in 45% patients and renal dysfunction in 20% patients while 12.5% had both hepatic and renal dysfunction. Cerebral malaria was diagnosed in 25% patients. Elevated serum bilirubin, AST and ALT shows significant relationship with mortality (p < 0.05). Conclusion: We found that hepatic and renal dysfunction is very common in Falciparum malaria and early recognition of hepatic dysfunction can aid in scrutinizing patients with poor outcome. This may aid in early recognisation of patients with poor prognosis who may need critical monitoring and care with proper use of resources, which is vital in resource constrained areas.

Keywords: .