Radiological appearance and their significance in the management of dengue hemorrhagic fever

Aims & objectives: to demonstrate various imaging features of dhf and their significance for the early recognition of moderate to severe forms of disease before they become clinically apparent. methodology: we have included 76 patients out of 500 admitted patients who were known cases of dengue fever and were sent for different radiological investigations including abdominal ultrasound and ct scan abdomen,x-ray chest,ct chest,mri brain. study was conducted october 2011 in doctor hospital and ghurki trust teaching hospital lahore. results: out of 76 patients,33 were female (43.4%) and 43 were male (56.6%). age range was 14 years to 80 years,mean age was 39 years). regarding pleural effusion,we have seen that left sided pleural effusion (1.3%) while right sided pleural effusion was seen in (17.1%). similarly bilateral pleural effusion was noted in (13.2%). right sided pneumonia was appreciated in (1.3%) while bilateral pneumonia was noted in (3.9%). ascites was noted in (51.3 %). gallbladder wall thickness was seen in (36.8%). hepatomegaly was noted in (35.5%). splenomegaly in (28.9%). non-specific gut wall thickening was noted in the small bowel only in one patient (1.3%). brain hemorrhage was identified in (1.3%). encephalitis was noted (1.3%),one patient (1.3%) showed diffuse inflammatory changes in the muscles of the neck on mri. conclusion: dengue fever management is very critical especially when leaking process start in potential spaces,this stage requires early diagnosis with the help of different imaging modalities.