OBJECTIVE: Schistosomiasis remains a
public health problem. This was a descriptive and
retrospective study of 42
patients with a severe form of
schistosomiasis who were admitted to the
outpatient clinic of the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, in São Paulo,
Brazil .
METHODS: A
data collection questionnaire was designed from the
patient charts, and the following variables were evaluated age,
sex ,
place of birth ,
occupation ,
signs and symptoms of
schistosomiasis , data from
laboratory and imaging examinations, data regarding
treatment outcomes, and the existence of comorbidities.
Statistical analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences 15.0 and Microsoft Excel 2003
software . The significance levels of the tests were fixed, accepting 5% type 1 error (α=0.05). Since this was a retrospective
observational study , not all data were available for
analysis .
RESULTS: The mean age of the
patients was 48.24 years; 57.1% were
male . Statistically significant
associations were observed between
splenomegaly and
thrombocytopenia (p=0.004) and between
splenomegaly and
leukopenia (p=0.046); however, only 4.5% of the
patients had esophageal
hemorrhage . Some
patients received a specific
treatment ; of those, 42% took
praziquantel , and 35.4% took
oxamniquine . Nonspecific
drug therapy was given as follows 65% received
propranolol , 90%
omeprazole , and 43.6%
aluminum hydroxide . The other
treatments were as follows 92.9% of
patients underwent endoscopic
treatment , 85% received
sclerotherapy , and 62.5% used
elastic bandages .
CONCLUSION: This preliminary study presents a multidisciplinary
outpatient follow-up associated with endoscopic and
drug treatments that may be effective at preventing
bleeding .