The association between placental malaria parasitization and pre-eclampsia/ eclampsia in promigravidac at Muhimbili National Hospital Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Objective: To determine the association between placental malaria parasitazation and pre-eclampsia/ eclampsia at Muhimbili National Hospital - Tanzania. Design: Unmatched case control study. Setting: Muhimbili National Hospital ( MNH ) labor ward. Population: Primigravidae with pre-eclampsia/ eclampsia as cases and those without as controls who delivered at MNH. Methods Peripheral blood smear to detect malaria parasite was done by taking venous blood. Pieces of placental tissue were taken and histological analysis was done to detect the presence of placental malaria parasites and pigments. Results: The study did not find statistical significant difference between pre eclampsia/eclampsia and the control group when malaria parasites and/or pigments were analyzed in the blood and in the placenta. Overall there has been a clinical significantly higher prevalence of placental malaria parasites and pigments in cases than controls but it has not been proved statistically in this study. Conclusion: Therefore the study has found no association between the presence of placental malaria parasitization and occurrence of pre eclampsia/ eclampsia.