Interest of Procalcitonin Measurement in Children with Cerebral Malaria in Southern Benin

Introduction: Cerebral malaria is a major complication of the Plasmodium falciparum infection with a high case fatality rate. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between cerebral malaria and high serum procalcitonin (PCT) level in children. Method: This was a prospective descriptive and analytical cohort study conducted over 12 months, on a series of PCT blood tests in children aged 6 months to 15 years old hospitalized for cerebral malaria in the pediatric wards of four hospitals in southern Benin. The cerebral malaria diagnosis was done based on WHO criteria. Blood samples for PCT measurement were collected on admission, 24 hours and 48 hours after the malaria therapy initiation. Student’s test, Pearson’s chi² test, Fisher’s test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used where appropriate. For all comparisons the difference was significant when p was less than 5%. Results: Sixty-five children were included in the study with a sex ratio of 1.41. The age group of children under 5 years was the most represented, at 57%. PCT levels were high in 92.3% of children at admission, 90.8% at 24 hours and 84.6% at 48 hours. Forty-nine children had a positive clinical outcome while 16 died (24.6%). PCT levels were generally high over the three days of hospitalization, but higher at admission in case of death (p = 0.000). The association between PCT level and parasitemia at admission was significant (p = 0.04). Conclusion: In the view of the results, blood PCT level measured at admission could be predictive of the disease outcome in children with cerebral malaria.