Visceral leishmaniasis: haematologic and haemostatic changes among sudanese patients

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a protozoal parasitic disease caused by Leishmania donovani complex, and transmitted to man by the bite of infected female sandfly. The parasite infects the macrophages in the liver, spleen and bone marrow producing many haematological abnormalities. VL is a major public health problem in Sudan. The aim of this study was to determine the haematologic and haemostatic changes among VL patients in Sudan. One hundred subjects were enrolled: 50 patients with established diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis who were admitted to Tropical Disease Hospital, Sudan; and 50 age and sex matched healthy individuals as controls. Complete blood count was performed by automated cell counter (Sysmex KX-21N); D-Dimer was measured using i-CHROMATM system (Boditech – Korea); APTT, PT and TT were measured using coagulometer (Sysmex CA 50). Patients included 30 male and 20 female, there median age was 10 year, with minimum age of 1 and maximum of 51 years. All patients were anaemic, 70% (35/50) were leucopenic, 62% (29/50) were thrombocytopenic and 44% (22/50) were pancytopenic. APTT, PT and TT were prolonged among patients when compared to controls (p value = 0.000, 0.001 and 0.000 respectively). Mean D-Dimer level was significantly higher among the cases when compared with the controls (p value 0.000). In conclusion, our study shows that the haematologic and haemostatic features of Sudanese VL are, generally, similar to the picture seen in other areas worldwide.