Maternal and perinatal outcomes of visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) treated with sodium stibogluconate in eastern Sudan.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate maternal and perinatal outcomes when pregnant women with visceral leishmaniasis (VL, also known as kala-azar) are treated with the antimonial sodium stibogluconate.

METHOD: Forty-two pregnant women with VL were treated with sodium stibogluconate at Gadarif Hospital, Gadarif, Sudan, and mother and child were followed up for 1 year.

RESULTS

The treatment began at a mean+/-SD of 24.4+/-9.2 weeks of pregnancy. None of the patients had malaria or HIV. Two (4.7%) who received the treatment in the first trimester had miscarriages; 4 (4.9%) died from hepatic encephalopathy during the second week of treatment; and 2 (4.7%) had preterm deliveries. One of the newborns had a myelomeningocele and died at 2 hours, and the other died from VL at 2 months.

CONCLUSION

Preventive measures against VL should be employed in the region, and more research on VL and its treatment during pregnancy is needed.