Post-malarial cerebellar ataxia in adult Sudanese patients

In this study the clinical manifestation and the effect of corticosteroids on the course and the outcome of post malaria cerebellar ataxia on thirty adult Sudanese patients wr investigated. Twenty four patients with delayed ataxia, that is, ataxia occurring shortly after full recovery from otherwise uncomplicated, documented malaria and six patients who were found to be ataxic on recovery from cerebral malaria were included in the study. The distribution of the age, sex and various clinical aspects were outlined. Twelve randomly selected patients were given oral prednisolone. The corticosteroid was found to shorten the period of ataxia. It was also found that in patients who demonstrated cerebellar infarction or atrophy on computerised tomography the duration of ataxia was significantly long.