Abstract
Background:Malaria still presents as a major health problem in Indonesia and specifically in East Kalimantan. One common sign found in malaria patient is thrombocytopenia, the mechanism of which is still unclear. Several studies have suggested some mechanisms, one of which is splenomegaly. This study aimed to discover the association between thrombocytopenia and splenomegaly of malaria patients in East Kalimantan. Methods:This study was a descriptive retrospective study with clinical and laboratory data obtained from the medical records of malaria patients in four major public hospitals from January 2015 to July 2018. The association between thrombocytopenia with splenomegaly was analysed using Chi-Square test. Results:A total of 215 patients were included; 189 male (87.9%) and 26 female (12.1%). The etiologic agents found in these patients were Plasmodium vivax(43.2%), Plasmodium falciparum(42.8%), and mixed infection ( Plasmodium falciparumand Plasmodium vivax) (4.6%). The thrombocyte count was normal in 28 patients (13%) and decreased in 187 patients (87%). Among patients with thrombocytopenia, the percentage of mild, moderate and severe thrombocytopenia was 18.2%, 43.8% and 33%, respectively. Splenomegaly was found in only 11 patients (5.1%). We found no association between thrombocytopenia with splenomegaly (p=0.61). Conclusions:We conclude that splenomegaly, which was a rare clinical finding of these malaria patients, was not associated with thrombocytopenia.
Highlights
Malaria still presents as a major health problem in Indonesia and in East Kalimantan
Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article Introduction Malaria is still a serious health problem in Indonesia
The 2007 and 2013 Basic Health Surveys of the Health Ministry show that the prevalence of malaria in Indonesia increased from 2.9% to 6.0%1
Summary
Malaria still presents as a major health problem in Indonesia and in East Kalimantan. One common sign found in malaria patient is thrombocytopenia, the mechanism of which is still unclear. Several studies have suggested some mechanisms, one of which is splenomegaly. This study aimed to discover the association between thrombocytopenia and splenomegaly of malaria patients in East Kalimantan. Methods: This study was a descriptive retrospective study with clinical and laboratory data obtained from the medical records of malaria patients in four major public hospitals from January 2015 to July 2018. The association between thrombocytopenia with splenomegaly was analysed using Chi-Square test. Results: A total of 215 patients were included; 189 male (87.9%) and 26 female (12.1%). Was found in only 11 patients (5.1%). We found no association between thrombocytopenia with splenomegaly (p=0.61)
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