Autopsy Findings in Malaria cases; a Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Introduction: Malaria is a huge health care burden in terms of mortality and morbidity worldwide. There has been evidence in the literature where many unexpected/unexplained deaths turned out to be related to malaria in endemic regions. Autopsy study of cases with unexplained fever are turn out to be malarial death. Method: This study included 598 cases of autopsy. H&E staining, bleaching techniques and pearl’s stain were used to identify malarial pigments in suspected cases. Results: In present study out of 598 autopsy cases, 12 cases were diagnosed having death due to malaria. All cases showed significant splenomegaly and microscopic examination of submitted organs showed presence of malarial pigments. Conclusion: In malaria endemic areas death due to unexplained fever, jaundice or severe hepato-splenomegaly should be critically investigated.