Expressive aphasia: An isolated and reversible complication of cerebral malaria in a child

摘要

Cerebral malaria is associated with neurological sequelae in some survivors, especially in children. We report here, a case of expressive aphasia as an isolated residual neurological impairment due to cerebral malaria in a girl child. Full course of the patient was followed and aphasia was reversible in our case. A 10-yr old girl was admitted in pediatric intensive care unit with complaints of high grade fever with chills for 5 days, altered sensorium, poor feeding for one day and one episode of seizure six hours before admission. Altered sensorium was accompanied with headache and vomiting. Seizure episode lasted for about 2-3 min and was of generalized tonic-clonic type. Past history was uneventful. On examination, Glasgow coma scale (GCS) was : Eye opening (E) 2; Vocalisation (V) 3; Motor responses (M) 3 (total score=8). Blood pressure and heart rate were within normal limits. Patient was febrile (103°F). She was maintaining oxygen saturation at room air. Systemic examination also revealed pallor and splenomegaly (5 cm).