Asunto(s)
Enfermedades Transmisibles Importadas/epidemiología , Enfermedades Transmisibles Importadas/microbiología , Leishmania major , Leishmaniasis Cutánea/epidemiología , Leishmaniasis Cutánea/microbiología , Viaje , Enfermedades Transmisibles Importadas/diagnóstico , Femenino , Humanos , Israel/epidemiología , Leishmania major/clasificación , Leishmania major/genética , Leishmania major/aislamiento & purificación , Leishmaniasis Cutánea/diagnóstico , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Países Bajos/epidemiología , Vigilancia de la PoblaciónRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Exchange transfusion (ET) has remained a controversial adjunct therapy for the treatment of severe malaria. In order to assess the relative contribution of ET to parasite clearance in severe malaria, all patients receiving ET as an adjunct treatment to parenteral quinine or to artesunate were compared with patients treated with parenteral treatment with quinine or artesunate but who did not receive ET. ET was executed using a standardized manual isovolumetric exchange protocol. METHODS: All patients in the Rotterdam Malaria Cohort treated for severe P. falciparum malaria at the Institute for Tropical Diseases of the Harbour Hospital between 1999 and 2011 were included in this retrospective follow-up study. Both a two-stage approach and a log-linear mixed model approach were used to estimate parasite clearance times (PCTs) in patients with imported malaria. Severe malaria was defined according to WHO criteria. RESULTS: A total of 87 patients with severe malaria was included; 61 received intravenous quinine, whereas 26 patients received intravenous artesunate. Thirty-nine patients received ET as an adjunct treatment to either quinine (n = 23) or artesunate (n = 16). Data from 84 of 87 patients were suitable for estimation of parasite clearance rates. PCTs were significantly shorter after administration of artesunate as compared with quinine. In both models, ET did not contribute significantly to overall parasite clearance. CONCLUSION: Manual exchange transfusion does not significantly contribute to parasite clearance in artesunate-treated individuals. There may be a small effect of ET on parasite clearance under quinine treatment. Institution of ET to promote parasite clearance in settings where artesunate is available is not recommended, at least not with manually executed exchange procedures.
Asunto(s)
Antimaláricos/uso terapéutico , Artemisininas/uso terapéutico , Recambio Total de Sangre/métodos , Malaria Falciparum/terapia , Adulto , Animales , Artesunato , Sangre/parasitología , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Países Bajos , Plasmodium falciparum/aislamiento & purificación , Quinina/uso terapéutico , Estudios Retrospectivos , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
Loss of vision is a threatening presentation of disease. We describe a case of acute idiopathic blind spot enlargement in a 26-year-old male traveler who presented with narrow vision after a journey to Indonesia. Although the patient used mefloquine at time of presentation, we were unable to retrieve sound data incriminating mefloquine in this rare eye disorder.