Published date: Sep 30 2022

Journal Title: Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences

Issue title: Sudan JMS: Volume 17 (2022), Issue No. 3

Pages: 341–354

DOI: 10.18502/sjms.v17i3.12110

Hammam Abdalrhman Altom Mohammed AhmedOmdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan

Ahmed Ali Ahmed Musaahmed1mahmoud111@gmail.comOmdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan

Ahmed Mahmoud Sayed Sayedahmedahmed1mahmoud111@gmail.comOmdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan

Shiraz Bashir Jabralseed MohammedOmdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan

Ehssan Farouk Mohamed AhmedOmdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan

Anas Badreldeen Elageb MohamedOmdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan

Abdelsalam Mohamed Ahmed NailOmdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (also known as Kala-azar) is a systemic parasitic infection with many clinical presentations. The present study assesses the variation in presentations among patients who attended the Tropical Diseases Teaching Hospital (TDTH) in Khartoum, Sudan.

Methods: This analytical cross-sectional, hospital-based study was conducted at the TDTH between November 2019 and September 2020. Medical records of patients who presented at the TDTH were reviewed using a structured data extraction checklist. The Chi-square test was used to determine the associations between sociodemographic and clinical presentations of patients. P-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: Out of 195 patients, 79.5% were male and 48.2% were <31 years old. Fever was the main clinical presentation (90.2%) while 53.3% presented with weight loss and 72.3% and 39% presented, respectively, with splenomegaly and hepatomegaly. HIV was detected in 4.6% of the patients. RK39 was the main diagnostic test. We found a significant association between the abdominal distention and the age of the patients (P < 0.05) – age groups 11–20 and 41–50 years were more likely to present with abdominal distention than other age groups.

Conclusion: There is no exact clinical presentation or routine laboratory findings that are pathognomonic for visceral leishmaniasis; therefore, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any patient with fever, weight loss, and abdominal distention, and among patients with HIV.

Keywords: visceral leishmaniasis, Sudan, clinical presentations

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