Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection in patients with severe falciparum malaria in urban India.

BACKGROUND: CD4+ T cells restrict parasitaemia during the first attack of falciparum malaria; humoral immunity, develops weeks later and protects against reinfection. HIV infection may affect severity of falciparum malaria and development of protective immunity. AIMS: To study the prevalence of HIV infection in Indian patients with severe falciparum malaria and its effect on severity of illness and recurrences of and mortality related to malarial infection. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients with severe falciparum malaria and voluntary blood donors. SETTING AND DESIGN: Prospective cohort study in a university hospital in Mumbai. RESULTS: Five (11.6%) of 43 patients and 521 (1.8%) of 28749 blood donors had HIV infection (OR 7.1, 95% CI = 2.8 to 18.2, p=0.001). Clinical features, APACHE II score, number of organs affected, parasite index and mortality in patients with and without HIV infection were comparable. CD4+ counts were < 500 cells/ microl in 2 patients and normal in 3. Opportunistic infections including pulmonary tuberculosis in one patient (CD4+ counts > 500 cells/ microl), and oral candidiasis in two (CD4+ counts 275 and 250 cells/ microl) were noted. One patient developed fatal Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia two weeks after recovering from malaria. P. falciparum infection recurred in 2 of the 4 HIV infected survivors and in none of 31 survivors without HIV infection (RR 38.8, 95% CI 2.2 to 671, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: HIV infection is associated with increased risk of severe malaria even with normal CD4+ counts; severity of disease and mortality are not increased. However, prior HIV infection impairs protective immune response to Plasmodium falciparum in residents of hypoendemic areas.

Stenting for SVC obstruction in an infant operated for total anomalous pulmonary venous return.

Superior vena cava obstruction following corrective repair of total anomalous pulmonary venous return has rarely been described in the literature. A one-month-old boy who underwent corrective surgery for obstructive supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous return with consequent symptomatic superior vena cava obstruction in the immediate postoperative period, is reported. This was treated by balloon dilatation followed by stenting of the superior vena cava. The immediate postoperative result was satisfactory and the infant continued to remain asymptomatic at six months follow up. We suggest that this intervention could prove to be a viable alternative to a repeat surgical procedure for such complex cases.