SynthesisMalaria journal2023
Retinal imaging technologies in cerebral malaria: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Malaria journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cerebral malaria in resource-limited African regions: Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.Infectious medicine · 2026Review
- Re-evaluating malarial retinopathy to improve its diagnostic accuracy in paediatric cerebral malaria: A retrospective study.PLoS medicine · 2025Article
- Smartphone conjunctiva photography for malaria risk stratification in asymptomatic school age children.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- Type II Acute Macular Neuroretinopathy Secondary to Malaria.Case reports in ophthalmological medicine · 2024Article
- Is there a role for bradykinin in cerebral malaria pathogenesis?Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCerebral malaria (CM) continues to present a major health challenge, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. CM is associated with a characteristic malarial retinopathy (MR) with diagnostic and prognostic significance. Advances in retinal imaging have allowed researchers to better characterize the changes seen in MR and to make inferences about the pathophysiology of the disease. The study aimed to explore the role of retinal imaging in diagnosis and prognostication in CM; establish insights into pathophysiology of CM from retinal imaging; establish future research directions.
methodsThe literature was systematically reviewed using the African Index Medicus, MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science databases. A total of 35 full texts were included in the final analysis. The descriptive nature of the included studies and heterogeneity precluded meta-analysis.
resultsAvailable research clearly shows retinal imaging is useful both as a clinical tool for the assessment of CM and as a scientific instrument to aid the understanding of the condition. Modalities which can be performed at the bedside, such as fundus photography and optical coherence tomography, are best positioned to take advantage of artificial intelligence-assisted image analysis, unlocking the clinical potential of retinal imaging for real-time diagnosis in low-resource environments where extensively trained clinicians may be few in number, and for guiding adjunctive therapies as they develop.
conclusionsFurther research into retinal imaging technologies in CM is justified. In particular, co-ordinated interdisciplinary work shows promise in unpicking the pathophysiology of a complex disease.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.