Hematological and coagulation studies in malaria

One hundred and twenty-six patients with malaria (30 cases of P. vivax and 96 cases of P. falciparum) were studied for evidence of hematological coagulation and fibrinolysis abnormalities. Anemia associated with malaria was observed only in P. falciparum infections and there was no correlation between the degree of anemia and the percentage of parasitemia. Decreased hematocrit levels were found to be statistically significant in P. vivax infected patients (P greater than 0.05). Thrombocytopenia was observed in both P. vivax and P. falciparum malaria patients (P less than 0.001) and correlated with the degree of parasitemia (r = 0.974). Plasmin activity was normal in P. vivax malarial patients but it was significantly increased in patients with a P. falciparum of more than 5 per cent parasitemia. Coagulation profiles showed normal PT, aPTT, and TT in P. vivax infected patients while prolonged PT and aPTT were observed in P. falciparum infection which correlated with the degree of parasitemia (r = 0.0992). Coagulation factors V, VII, and IX were the most sensitive parameters in the expression of coagulation defects and most coagulation abnormalities were due to liver involvement. However, 2 of 20 complicated cases of P. falciparum showed evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).