Lactic acidosis in Gabonese children with severe malaria is unrelated to dehydration.

BACKGROUND Hyperlactatemia is an important and common complication of severe malaria. We investigated changes in fluid compartment volumes in patients with severe malaria and control patients with the use of bioimpedence analysis. METHODS We estimated extracellular water and total body water volumes in a total of 180 children: 56 with severe malaria, 94 with moderate malaria, 24 with respiratory tract infection, and 6 with severe diarrhea. RESULTS There was a mean (+/-SD) decrease in total body water volume of 17+/-24 mL/kg (or 3% of total body water volume) in patients with severe malaria. This compares with a mean (+/-SD) decrease in total body water volume of 33+/-28 mL/kg (or 6% of total body water volume) in patients with severe diarrhea. There was no increase in extracellular water volume in patients with severe malaria, suggesting no significant intravascular volume depletion in patients with severe malaria. There was no relationship between lactatemia and any changes in fluid compartment volumes. CONCLUSIONS The changes in fluid volumes that were observed are unlikely to be of physiological significance in the pathophysiology of severe malaria.