• Alberto Tobón Castaño, Ana del Mar Cortina, Andrés Felipe Miranda, and Silvia Blair Trujillo.
• Facultad de Medicina. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia. malaria@quimbaya.udea.edu.co
• Rev Cubana Med Trop. 2010 Jan 1;62(1):28-35.

Introductionearly recognition of warning signs in malarial patients allows timely identification of the patient at risk of severe malaria and provides opportune treatment. Jaundice and dark urine are frequent signs that can alert to the occurrence of severe malaria.Objectiveto study the relationship between jaundice and dark urine with impaired liver and/or kidney function and anemia in malarial patients, and explore their role as warning signs.Methodclinical and laboratory data from 199 patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria, belonging to a case control study conducted in Colombia, were analyzed, the association between dark urine and jaundice with impairment in the urine analysis, the hepatic and renal function test, and hemoglobin were studied.Resultsthere was association between dark urine and hemoglobinuria (OR = 236, 63-867), hematuria (OR = 3.2, 1.6-6.6), proteinuria (OR = 2.3, 1-5.3) and bilirubinuria (OR = 2.1, 1-4.4). Jaundice was present in 31 % of patients who had renal dysfunction (OR = 2.7, 1.1-6.4) and in 22 % of those with liver dysfunction (OR = 2.1, 0.9-4.5). Jaundice was more likely in patients with total bilirubin > 25.6 micromol/L (OR = 6.1, 2.7-13.4) and blood ureic nitrogen > 7.14 mmol/L (OR = 3.5, 1.4-8.5).Conclusionsjaundice in patients with malaria may be considered as a warning sign associated with liver and kidney dysfunction. Dark urine was not associated with kidney or liver dysfunction, but was related to bilirubinuria, hematuria and proteinuria, which can be early indicators of failure; dark urine must be studied to clarify its relationship with liver and kidney failure in malaria.

23 keywords...

hide…