Clinical and laboratory features of childhood visceral leishmaniasis in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

The clinical and laboratory features of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) were studied in 51 children at Abha in southwestern Saudi Arabia, an area endemic for the disease. The majority of patients came from the coastal Tihama Valley or had visited the Valley from the hills. There was a predilection for infants and young children (median age 18 months). A double quotidian fever pattern was observed in half the patients. Splenomegaly was noted to be more common and more severe than hepatomegaly. Important hematological features were anemia, aften severe, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Common biochemical abnormalities inclueded hepatic dysfunction, hypoalbuminemia and hyperglobulinemia. The hematological and biochemical changes noted in VL are nonspecific. Our findings are compared with those from other endemic areas. Saudi Arabian VL resembles the Mediterranean form of the disease.