Correlation between parasitemia and spleen size in patients with P. falciparum infection

• Main Authors: Dini Lailani, Munar Lubis, Bidasari Lubis, Syahril Pasaribu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Indonesian Pediatric Society Publishing House 2016-10-01
• Series: Paediatrica Indonesiana
• Subjects: parasitemia; splenomegaly; falciparum malaria
• Online Access: https://paediatricaindonesiana.org/index.php/paediatrica-indonesiana/article/view/747
• ISSN: 0030-9311; 2338-476X

Background Spleen is an important organ in immunity to malaria infection which is always affected in malaria patients. Enlargement of the spleen is one of the main clinical symptoms of malaria. Level of parasitemia is related to the risk of complications. Objective To describe the correlation between parasitemia and spleen size in patients with P.falciparum infection. Methods One hundred and four patients including children and adults with fever, pale, jaundice, diarrhea, and headache who vis- ited public health centers in 5 villages in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatera were enrolled in this study. The diagnosis of malaria was based on blood smears stained by Giemsa method, while the spleen size was measured using Hackett method. Correlation be- tween parasitemia and spleen size was tested by Spearman rank correlation. Results Splenomegaly was found in 37 of 104 patients (35.6 %) with the size of H1 in 10.6 %, H2 in 15.4 %, H3 in 9.6 %. The mean parasite count between patients with and without splenomegaly was different, and the difference was significant between patients with spleen size of H0 and H3. The higher the parasitemia, the bigger the spleen size was (r=0.291; p=0.03). Conclusion There was a correlation between parasitemia and spleen size in falciparum malarial infection