Haemorrheological Changes in Malaria Infected Pregnant Subject Attending Antenatal Clinic at Eku Baptist Government Hospital

We assessed the Haemorrheological changes in malaria infected pregnant subjects attending ante-natal clinic at Eku Baptist Government Hospital. Five hundred (500) subjects were used, comprising of 201 randomly selected malaria infected pregnant subjects, 201 randomly selected non malaria infected pregnant subjects (control 1) and 98 randomly selected non-pregnant nonmalarial infected subjects (control 2) classified into first, second and third trimesters respectively. Ethical clearance from both the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Science and Technology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Eku Baptist Hospital was obtained. The subjects were tested for Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Relative Whole Blood Viscosity (RWBV), Relative Plasma Viscosity (RPV) and fibrinogen. There was a significant decrease (P<0.05) in PCV when test subjects was compared with control subjects in their first and second trimester respectively. But there was a non significant decrease (P>0.05) in PCV when test subjects was compared with control subjects in third trimester. Also there was significant increase (P<0.05) in ESR in the first, second and third trimesters respectively when test subjects was compared with control subjects. Meanwhile the RWBV and plasma fibrinogen showed a non significant (P>0.05) decrease in the first, second and third trimester respectively when the test subjects were compared with control subjects. While the RPV showed significant decreased (p<0.05) only in the second trimester. From this study, a significant decrease in PCV was identified and also a significant increase in ESR and plasma viscosity in malaria infected subjects was observed, thus indicating alteration in the haemorrheological status.