Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: TO THE EDITOR—The purpose of our study was to develop an easy-to-use method that is highly reproducible between laboratories to quantify parameters associated with poor outcomes during placental malaria [1]. The placental inflammatory infiltrate has long been linked to poor outcomes, including maternal anemia [2] and low birth weight [3]. We acknowledge the work of Ordi as well as others supporting the association between birth weight, inflammation, and pigment [3–6], and we relied on and referenced this evidence to select these parameters for our new grading scheme. Notably, most of these prior studies, which are consistent with our experience in Kenya and Tanzania, have shown that the level of parasitemia is not independently associated with outcome during placental malaria [2, 3, 7]. In addition, several methods previously described were not suitable for frozen sections used in our Tanzania study, and modifications were necessary: For example, frozen sections can be used to identify infection but cannot be used to quantify the percentage of infected erythrocytes due to erythrocyte lysis. Overall, our scheme captures maximal information from easily collected and clearly quantified histologic data that correlate with disease, using a scoring system modeled on a widely adopted 2-parameter grading scheme developed by Batts and Ludwig for viral hepatitis with fibrosis [8].
Authors: A. Muehlenbachs, M. Fried, R. McGready, F. Nosten, P. E. Duffy
Language: French
Topic: Malaria Research and Control
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Award: G4091101365
OpenAlex ID: W2000456796