Study Uses MRI to Determine the Progression of Cerebral Malaria in Malawi

MRI scans only became available in Malawi in the year 2009. Between 15%–25% of children in Africa suffering from cerebral malaria, which causes brain swelling, and an increase in intracranial pressure, die from the condition.

The researchers used MRI imaging to study the brain size and intracranial pressure in a total of 168 children in a coma who had been diagnosed with cerebral malaria and retinopathy. As part of the study, the researchers performed an MRI exam when the children were admitted and every day thereafter as long as the children were still in a coma.

The study found that most of the children that eventually died from the disease had evidence of severe brain swelling on their MRI scan when they were admitted, while significantly fewer children who survived had evidence of such swelling in the initial MRI scan. The serial MRI scans also showed that those children that survived, but did not have severe brain swelling during the initial exam, showed evidence of decreasing brain volume.

The study was published in the March 19, 2015, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

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