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OBJECTIVE: To describe maternal and fetal outcome among pregnancies complicated with malarial infection. METHODS: Charts of pregnancies complicated with malarial infection were reviewed. Parasital etiology and maternal/fetal data was analyzed. RESULTS: During the year 2001, at the Enrique C. Sotomayor Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Guayaquil-Ecuador, 80 pregnancies complicated with malarial infection were admitted for treatment. This rendered an incidence of 2.1 per 1,000 live births (80/37,579). Mean maternal age was 25.2 +/- 6.7 years and the 19-29 age group was the most frequently affected (50%). On admittance, fever, chills, jaundice and anemia was present in 97.5%, 78.8%, 38.8% and 60% respectively. Falciparum was the most frequently presenting species (56.3%). Patients admitted at 36 weeks, 87.5% (7/8) ended in a live term delivery. Adolescents presented a higher rate of anemia and SGA neonates. The overall (n = 80) abortion, preterm delivery and intrauterine fetal demise rates were 16.3%, 25% and 8.8% respectively. Chloroquine effectively treated 98.8% of cases and there was one maternal death due to falciparum infection. CONCLUSIONS: In this Ecuadorian population, malarial infection complicating gestation was associated to adverse maternal-fetal outcome, which was more evident among teenagers and pregnancies presenting malaria at an earlier gestational age.
Espinoza et al. (Mon,) studied this question.