García GA, Pradere PJC, Sanabria BOL, Luejes GTH, Hernández TA

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 266-275
PDF size: 106.20 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Malaria is the most important parasitic disease of the human being, causes between one and three million deaths annually.
Objectives: To characterize patients with severe malaria due to plasmodium falciparum admitted to an intensive care unit.
Methods: An observational, descriptive study was carried out in an Intensive Care Unit in Luanda, from July 2014 to July 2016. The series consisted of 485 patients.
Results: The series represented 99.6 % of admissions. The mean age was 23.4 ± 11.2 years. The male sex predominated (66.4 %) and the age groups were 30 years old or younger (83.6 %). The male / female ratio was 1.97: 1. The mortality was 43.1 %. The female sex had a higher proportion of deaths (61 %). The percentage of deaths in those with blood parasites count >= 500003 x mm was higher. The mean value of "Acute Physiology, Age, Chronic Health Evaluation II" was 14.8 ± 5.4; in the deceased it was higher than in the living (17.6 vs. 12.3). The most frequent complications were neurological (90.1 %), hematological (77 %), respiratory (61.8 %), hepatic (58.7 %), and renal (40.3 %). 51.6 % of the patients received mechanical ventilation.
Conclusions: Young people accounted for most of the admissions for malaria in the intensive care unit, a high percentage required mechanical ventilation, and mortality in women was higher and overall high.