Clinicopathological study of clinically undiagnosed cases of kala-azar with special reference to grading of parasites.
Clinicopathological study of 34 clinically undiagnosed cases of kala-azar has been undertaken with a view to establish the diagnosis and correlate the quantitative grading of Leishmania donovani in bone marrow/splenic aspirates with clinical features and duration of disease. The ages of the patients were between 5 and 45 years. The duration of illnesses ranged from 2-24 months with 47% having 2 months' duration. Splenomegaly was less than 7 cm in 70.5% cases. Anaemia, leucopenia and mild thrombocytopenia were present in all the cases. Aldehyde test was positive in 47% cases. Bone marrow aspiration revealed the parasites in 82.3% cases. L donovani was also observed in 66.6% cases of splenic aspiration including 6 cases where bone marrow failed to reveal the parasite. Grading of the parasites in bone marrow and splenic aspirates revealed majority of the cases (73.5%) were in 3+ and 4+ grades. No correlation between splenic size and duration of illness or parasite grading was detected. Neither any positive correlation between parasite grading and duration of illness was observed.
BS Medical College, Bankura.
C
C
Mukherjee
P K
PK
Mitra
A
A
Dasgupta
R N
RN
Ghosh
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000469:parasitology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013154:Spleen / Q000469:parasitology