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at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Photo by Jim Peck
After grant money brought magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to a hospital in Africa, researchers were able to uncover the cause of death in children with cerebral malaria.
MRI scans revealed that, in some children, the brain can become so swollen that it is forced out through the bottom of the skull and compresses the brain stem. This pressure causes the children to stop breathing and die.
The researchers reported these findings in NEJM.
“Because we know now that the brain swelling is what causes death, we can work to find new treatments,” said study author Terrie Taylor, DO, of Michigan State University in East Lansing.
“The next step is to identify what’s causing the swelling and then develop treatments targeting those causes. It’s also possible that using ventilators to keep the children breathing until the swelling subsides might save lives, but ventilators are few and far between in Africa at the moment.”
Scans reveal brain swelling
In 2008, GE Healthcare provided a $1 million MRI to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, where Dr Taylor spends 6 months of every year treating and studying children with malaria.
Dr Taylor and her colleagues used the MRI to view brain images from hundreds of children with cerebral malaria, comparing findings in those who died to those who survived.
The team imaged 168 children with cerebral malaria (as defined by the World Health Organization). Fifteen percent (25/168) of the children died. And 84% of these children (21/25) had evidence of severe brain swelling at admission.
In contrast, the researchers found evidence of severe brain swelling in 27% (39/143) of children who survived. And serial MRI scans revealed decreasing brain volume in the survivors who initially had brain swelling.
“We found that survivors’ brains were either never swollen or decreased in size after 2 to 3 days,” Dr Taylor said. “This was a triumphant moment. I wanted to say to the parasite, ‘Ha! You never thought we’d get an MRI, did you?’” 
at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Photo by Jim Peck
After grant money brought magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to a hospital in Africa, researchers were able to uncover the cause of death in children with cerebral malaria.
MRI scans revealed that, in some children, the brain can become so swollen that it is forced out through the bottom of the skull and compresses the brain stem. This pressure causes the children to stop breathing and die.
The researchers reported these findings in NEJM.
“Because we know now that the brain swelling is what causes death, we can work to find new treatments,” said study author Terrie Taylor, DO, of Michigan State University in East Lansing.
“The next step is to identify what’s causing the swelling and then develop treatments targeting those causes. It’s also possible that using ventilators to keep the children breathing until the swelling subsides might save lives, but ventilators are few and far between in Africa at the moment.”
Scans reveal brain swelling
In 2008, GE Healthcare provided a $1 million MRI to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, where Dr Taylor spends 6 months of every year treating and studying children with malaria.
Dr Taylor and her colleagues used the MRI to view brain images from hundreds of children with cerebral malaria, comparing findings in those who died to those who survived.
The team imaged 168 children with cerebral malaria (as defined by the World Health Organization). Fifteen percent (25/168) of the children died. And 84% of these children (21/25) had evidence of severe brain swelling at admission.
In contrast, the researchers found evidence of severe brain swelling in 27% (39/143) of children who survived. And serial MRI scans revealed decreasing brain volume in the survivors who initially had brain swelling.
“We found that survivors’ brains were either never swollen or decreased in size after 2 to 3 days,” Dr Taylor said. “This was a triumphant moment. I wanted to say to the parasite, ‘Ha! You never thought we’d get an MRI, did you?’”
at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Photo by Jim Peck
After grant money brought magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to a hospital in Africa, researchers were able to uncover the cause of death in children with cerebral malaria.
MRI scans revealed that, in some children, the brain can become so swollen that it is forced out through the bottom of the skull and compresses the brain stem. This pressure causes the children to stop breathing and die.
The researchers reported these findings in NEJM.
“Because we know now that the brain swelling is what causes death, we can work to find new treatments,” said study author Terrie Taylor, DO, of Michigan State University in East Lansing.
“The next step is to identify what’s causing the swelling and then develop treatments targeting those causes. It’s also possible that using ventilators to keep the children breathing until the swelling subsides might save lives, but ventilators are few and far between in Africa at the moment.”
Scans reveal brain swelling
In 2008, GE Healthcare provided a $1 million MRI to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, where Dr Taylor spends 6 months of every year treating and studying children with malaria.
Dr Taylor and her colleagues used the MRI to view brain images from hundreds of children with cerebral malaria, comparing findings in those who died to those who survived.
The team imaged 168 children with cerebral malaria (as defined by the World Health Organization). Fifteen percent (25/168) of the children died. And 84% of these children (21/25) had evidence of severe brain swelling at admission.
In contrast, the researchers found evidence of severe brain swelling in 27% (39/143) of children who survived. And serial MRI scans revealed decreasing brain volume in the survivors who initially had brain swelling.
“We found that survivors’ brains were either never swollen or decreased in size after 2 to 3 days,” Dr Taylor said. “This was a triumphant moment. I wanted to say to the parasite, ‘Ha! You never thought we’d get an MRI, did you?’”