Cerebral malaria is strictly defined as coma [Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) <9] in a patient with malaria in whom other aetiologies have been excluded.
Severe disease was defined as coma (Blantyre coma score < 3), respiratory distress (deep breathing), severe anemia (blood hemoglobin concentration < 50 g/L), prostration, or ≥2 seizures in 24 h.
We recorded the Blantyre Coma Score (BCS) on admission [ 34]; this has a scale from 0 to 5, with a score of ≤2 defining coma.
We analyzed the medical files of the selected patients, focusing on the following: the reason for ICU admission, CSF findings (including the results of PCR for herpes simplex virus, (HSV)), and the occurrence of coma (defined by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score <8) requiring mechanical ventilation.
In this study, we defined 'low coma grade' as grade 1 or 2 and 'high coma grade' as grade 3 or 4. The KCC [19] predicts poor outcome (death/transplant) if: (a) pH is less than 7.3 or (b) if INR is greater than 6.5, creatinine is greater than 3.4 mg/dl, and coma grade is high (3 or 4).
Cerebral malaria is defined as coma, with P. falciparum peripheral parasitaemia, in the absence of another identifiable cause of coma, such as hypoglycaemia or meningitis (Newton et al., 1998).
Such an epidemiological transition provides an opportunity to re-examine the role of malaria in the aetiology of coma and define new priorities in coma research in SSA.
Severe hypoglycemia is defined as coma or seizure associated with hypoglycemia.
Coma was defined as Blantyre coma score ≤2 for children less than 2 years of age or a Glasgow coma score ≤10 for older children.
"Coma" was defined as Glascow Coma Scale (GCS) < 8 or a state of profound unconsciousness in which the child was incapable of sensing or responding to external stimuli.
