Table 1.
Characteristics of comatose patients included in this study (n = 87)
| Characteristic | Cerebral Malaria (n=51) | Comatose, Parasitemic, non-CM (n = 24) | Comatose, Aparasitemic, non-CM (n = 12] | p-value* | Suggested Reye’s Syndrome | p-value*** | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (months, med, IQR) | 31 (22–77) | 30.6 (19.5 – 52.5) | 43.5 (11 – 79.5) | 0.7867 | 25 (19 – 51) | 0.5620 | ||
| Gender (% Male) | 47.1 | 62.5 | 50.0 | 0.4450 | 44.4 | 0.5880 | ||
| Duration of Coma (hours, med, IQR) | 32 (24–48) | 20.5 (13.5 – 37) | 72 (14 – 92) | 0.0821 | 28.5 (16 – 65) | 0.8765 | ||
| History of Fever (% Yes) | 96.1 | ≫ | 78.3 | ~ | 58.3 | 0.0010 | 77.8 | 0.1030 |
| Fever Duration (hours, mean, sd) | 57 (± 38) | ~ | 32 (± 32) | ≪ | 199 (± 213) | <0.0001 | 119 (± 68) | 0.0159 |
| History of Seizures (% Yes) | 68.6 | 75.0 | 45.5 | 0.2570 | 33.3 | 0.0520 | ||
| Seisure Duration (hours, med, IQR) | 6.5 (5 – 13) | 7 (5 – 13) | 9.5 (5 – 23) | 0.8073 | 7 (6 – 23) | 0.4588 | ||
| History of Aspirin (% Yes) | 25.5 | 20.8 | 25.0 | 0.9380 | 33.3 | 0.4490 | ||
| Temperature (°C, mean, sd) | 38.5 (± 1.3) | ≫ | 37.6 (± 2.1) | ~ | 37.7 (± 1.8) | 0.0587 | 36.8 (± 0.5) | 0.0005 |
| Pulse (bpm, mean, sd) | 151 (± 31) | 133 (± 38) | 139 (± 29 | 0.0849 | 148 (± 7) | 0.3959 | ||
| Blood Pressure (sys, med, IQR) | 103 (90 – 110) | 110 (90 – 120) | 94 (74 – 110) | 0.3497 | 90 [60 – 110) | 0.2026 | ||
| Respiration (bpm, med, IQR) | 48 (40–58) | 42 (36 – 53) | 44 (36 – 50) | 0.2011 | 42 (36 – 52) | 0.2164 | ||
| BMI (kg/m2, mean, sd) | 14.4 (± 2.3) | 15.2 (± 2.2) | 13.9 (± 2.2) | 0.1693 | 14.2 (± 0.9) | 0.4143 | ||
| Glucose (g/dL, mean, sd) | 5.2 (± 3.0) | ~ | 4.7 (± 4.7) | ≪ | 8.7 (± 4.4) | 0.0097 | 6.5 (± 2.0) | 0.1705 |
| Liver > 1cm below diaphragm? (% Yes) | 54.0 | 65.2 | 66.7 | 0.6020 | 44.4 | 0.4330 | ||
| Parasitemia (p/uL, med, IQR) | 81840 (11399–442705) | < | 4438 (436.5 – 93740) | 0** | 0.0018 | 0 (0-4716) | 0.0015 | |
| Hematocrit (%, mean, sd) | 20.9 (± 7.1) | ≪ | 29.8 (± 9.6) | ~ | 27.2 (± 11.9) | 0.0002 | 26.0 (± 3.7) | 0.0365 |
| White Blood Cell Count (K/uL, med, IQR) | 12.7 (9.7–17.1) | ~ | 14.1 (10.5 – 23.0) | ≪ | 19.3 (16.1 – 39.8) | 0.0323 | 18.0 (11.5 – 30.4) | 0.0797 |
| Platelet Count (K/uL, med, IQR) | 57 (35.5–89) | ≪ | 207 (45 – 276) | ~ | 350 (277 – 556) | 0.0001 | 350 (222 – 370) | 0.0009 |
| HIV status (% Positive) | 28.0 | 4.5 | 16.7 | 0.0600 | 22.2 | 0.5370 |
P-values represent Kruskal-Wallis tests (for medians), ANOVA (for means), and Fisher’s Exact (for proportions). For significant p-values in multiple comparisons, the results of Bonferroni (ANOVA) or Test for Trend (Kruskal-Wallis) are shown between columns to demonstrate equivalency (“~”) or significant differences (“≪” or “&Gt”)
The comatose, aparasitemic group, by definition, has a zero value for parasitemia at admission; therefore, the P-value shown in this table is for a Wilcoxan rank sum test between the cerebral malaria versus non-CM, parasitemic patients.
P-values are Reye’s vs. Cerebral Malaria and represent Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests (for medians), T-test of means (for means), and Fisher’s Exact (for proportions).