Foinquinos et al reported a simple score for identifying a pediatric patient with visceral leishmaniasis who is at increased risk of mortality. This is based on recalibration of the factors used to calculate the score of Sampaio et al. The authors are from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and affiliated institutions in Recife, Brazil.
Reason for recalibration: poor performance in validation cohort. The authors conjectured that improvement in diagnosis and therapy may have contributed to a decreased lethality, requiring adjustment of weighting.
Patient selection: pediatric patient < 15 years old with visceral leishmaniasis
