Diagnosis of acute malaria by laser based cell counter with comparison of conventional and recent techniques in Indian scenario.

ABSTRACT

Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in humans affecting 103 countries worldwide. AIMS: The present study aims to determine the diagnostic utility of cell counter data--hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, platelet count and depolarized laser light (DLL)-based purple-coded events (PCEs) in detection of acute malaria. This is a retrospective study of 523 patient data that came for complete blood count for the first time. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-five of the 523 patients showed microscopic evidence of malaria. Platelet count showed the highest sensitivity of 77.77% (105/135). PCEs (> or = 1) showed 43.7% (59/135) sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that a low platelet count (< 150 x 109/L) is a good hematological parameter for presumptive diagnosis of malaria. If we change the cut-off for PCEs from > or = 1 to > or = 2, the sensitivity would be 56.29% (76/135) and the specificity would be 94.58% (367/388), respectively. The sensitivity of DLL was low, particularly with a low parasitic index (PI). The number of PCEs does not correlate with the PI. The cut-off number of PCEs in DLL-based malaria detection should be modified in highly endemic areas.