Is ultrasound a useful adjunct for assessing malaria patients?

The value of ultrasonography as an adjunct for diagnosis and monitoring malaria was investigated. In all, 118 patients (male/female 65/53; age 2-78 years, median 29 years) with malaria underwent a standardised abdominal ultrasound examination at baseline. In 62 out of 118 patients, ultrasonography was repeated 21 days later. In the results at baseline, huge splenomegaly with firm organ consistency, consistent with hyperreactive malarious splenomegaly syndrome, was observed in two Cameroonese children. In the other 116 patients, the most common finding was non-specific splenomegaly (96/116, 82.76%), occurring more frequently in non-immune patients (71/78, 91.03%) than in patients who had grown up in malaria-endemic areas (25/38, 65.79%; P<0.002). No correlation was found between liver or spleen size and any clinical parameter. The results on day 21 show that, although splenomegaly after therapy persisted more frequently in patients with malaria recrudescence or relapse (8/8, 100%) than in patients cured (32/54, 59.26%; P<0.0421), the practical value of this finding is questionable. Ultrasonography cannot be regarded as a first-line diagnostic method in patients with malaria.