Bidyut Prava Das1, Ratnadeep Ganguly2
BACKGROUND
The present work aimed at the clinical mode of presentation, degree of parasitaemia, complications and prognostic trends of pregnant women in cerebral malaria. Evaluation of mortality in different trimesters, varied complications and comparison with nonpregnant women was done.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Thirty three pregnant women with cerebral malaria were studied. Twenty nonpregnant such cases of reproductive age group admitted to Department of Medicine, S.C.B. Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha, were taken as control. The cases were taken in random order.
RESULTS
Maximum numbers of cases (45.45%) were primigravidae in second trimester of pregnancy. They exhibited higher incidence of anaemia and parasitaemia (2-10%), resulting in abortion and premature labour.
CONCLUSION
All the cases of cerebral malaria were found to be anaemic, but the severity of anaemia was more pronounced in primi (21%) as compared to multigravidae (6.4%). High parasitaemia associated with leucocytosis (27.27%) resulted in poor prognosis. Hypoglycaemia (15.15%), high level of urea, creatinine and alteration in parameters of liver function test further complicated the scenario leading to multiorgan failure. Recovery in cases of primigravidae was prolonged as compared to multigravidae.
