Management of Hyperparasitaemia in Severe Malaria: A Sea Change With the Availability of Artesunate

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to study the efficacy of exchange transfusion in complicated malaria with hyperparasitaemia.

METHOD

This is a retrospective case-control study conducted in a tertiary care referral hospital in northeastern India. A retrospective chart review was done, and 34 children with hyperparasitaemia were identified. Of these, 16 children received only antimalarial chemotherapy, and 18 received adjunct exchange blood transfusion (EBT). The data was analyzed for survival benefit as the main outcome measure.

RESULTS

The subjects in each of the groups were comparable in terms of age, sex distribution, and mean haemoglobin at presentation. The patients treated with EBT were more ill than those who did not receive EBT; they met a greater number of WHO criteria for severe malaria (2.94 ± 1.16 vs. 1.81 ± 0.83; p=0.002) and had higher levels of parasitaemia (23.96 ± 17.55 vs. 16.14 ± 6.89; p=0.0007). The mean volume exchanged was 44.88 ± 20.49 ml/kg, against a target of 70 ml/kg due to the unavailability of fresh, compatible whole blood. There was no difference in mortality in the exchange transfusion group compared to the chemotherapy alone group (22.22% vs. 31.25%; p=0.83).

CONCLUSIONS

In resource-limited areas, lower volumes of fresh whole blood for exchange transfusion can reduce hyperparasitaemia to a significant degree, and this may give some mortality benefit in very sick cases. Artesunate, by virtue of its rapid action, is capable of reducing hyperparasitaemia and may question the very place of blood transfusion in complicated malaria. It may also be worthwhile to accumulate more data comparing EBT against artesunate instead of quinine.

Risk Factors of Exchange Blood Transfusion in Infants With Severe Pertussis

Exchange blood transfusion (ET) reportedly improves the outcomes of the patients with severe pertussis accompanied with deadly complications continued to worsen despite intensive therapeutic measures. This study assessed the medical records of 12 patients with severe pertussis requiring ET therapy who were admitted to our medical center. Of the 12 patients requiring ET therapy, 8 survived and 4 died. The independent risk factors for requiring ET therapy in infants with severe pertussis were T ≥ 38.5°C (odds ratio [OR], 11.697; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.325-262.184; P = .046), C-reactive protein (CRP) >30 mg/L (OR, 62.393; 95% CI, 6.264-2381.773; P = .004), and WBC > 40.0 × 109/L (OR, 68.509; 95% CI, 8.118-1829.695; P = .001). ET therapy worked effectively for our severe pertussis cases. When the severe pertussis patients with T ≥ 38.5°C, CRP >30 mg/L, and WBC > 40.0 × 109/L, ET therapy might be taken into consideration.

Pattern of serum bilirubin changes following double volume exchange blood transfusion in neonates at a tertiary health facility in Nigeria

Introduction

exchange blood transfusion (EBT) is a form of massive transfusion useful in rapidly reducing serum bilirubin levels, but serum bilirubin levels frequently rebound within hours of completing the procedure, due to equilibration of extravascular bilirubin as well as on-going hemolysis. The study was carried out to determine the pattern of reduction in serum bilirubin levels following EBT among neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia, as well as the factors contributing to this pattern, so as to establish evidence-based expectations following EBT.

Methods

a retrospective descriptive study covering a two-year period in a Nigerian tertiary hospital. Details of the EBT procedures, including serial serum bilirubin levels, were obtained from the hospital records of all newborn babies who had double volume EBT done for severe hyperbilirubinaemia during the study period. Data was analyzed using the statistical software SPSS version 21.0.

Results

the mean total serum bilirubin (TSB) before EBT in the 36 babies was 17.9 ± 6.3 mg/dl. The mean percentage decrease in TSB immediately following EBT was 44.3 ± 10.2%. Six hours after EBT, TSB levels had increased from the immediate post-EBT values by an average of 57.5 ± 32.2%. Twenty-four hours after the procedure, TSB values in most (87.1%) cases were still higher than the immediate post-EBT values, but lower than the pre-EBT values. Post-EBT anemia was recorded among 33.3% of the babies.

Conclusion

EBT is effective in rapidly reducing serum bilirubin levels and preventing acute bilirubin encephalopathy in neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia, despite the rebound increase that occurs in TSB values after the procedure.

Outcome of exchange blood transfusions done for neonatal jaundice in abakaliki, South eastern Nigeria

Background:

Neonatal jaundice (NNJ) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among neonates in Nigeria and exchange blood transfusion (EBT) is a common modality of its treatment in Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital (EBSUTH), Abakaliki. This communication aims to audit this service.

Materials and Methods:

A 3-year retrospective review of the case files of all neonates that had EBT for NNJ at the new born special care unit of EBSUTH.

Result:

Two hundred and thirty seven (17.25%) out of 1374 neonatal admissions had NNJ. EBT was performed for 40 (16.9%) of them. The commonest indications for EBT were low birth weight/prematurity, ABO blood group incompatibility, sepsis and glucose 6 phosphate deficiencies. The mean serum bilirubin at which EBT was done was 28.3 mg/dl. The EBT was uneventful in 36 cases while in four (10%) cases there were reported adverse events. Seven neonates (17.5%) died after the procedure and documented causes of death include bilirubin encephalopathy, respiratory failure, and septic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy.

Conclusion:

There is high rate of EBT use in the management of severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia with significant morbidity and mortality in this study site. There is need to review the contribution of factors such as late presentation in the hospital to this and proffer solutions to it.