Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Mar 1996
Retinal findings predictive of outcome in cerebral malaria.
The pathogenesis of cerebral malaria is poorly understood. Direct and indirect ophthalmoscope examinations of 141 Malawian children with strictly defined cerebral malaria revealed 2 distinct and prognostically significant findings: papilloedema and extramacular retinal oedema. ⋯ The mortality rate in patients with neither of these signs was only 1.3% compared to an overall mortality rate of 9.2%. The clinical and laboratory features associated with each of these ophthalmological findings were different, suggesting that there may be at least 2 different pathogenetic processes in patients with cerebral malaria.