Abstract
Introduction: The hypercoagulable complications of malaria typically manifest in the microvasculature. However, there are several cases of intracranial venous thrombosis caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria and there was one case report of pulmonary thromboembolism due to Plasmodium falciparum. To the best of our knowledge, there have not been case reports of plasmodium vivax associated with pulmonary thromboembolism.
Case Presentation: A 30-year-old Ethiopian male patient presented with sudden onset shortness of breath of 3 days duration. He had also high grade fever, chills and rigors associated with loss of appetite and fatigue of similar duration. He was from malaria endemic area. He had a pulse rate of 108 beats per minutes, respiratory rate of 32 breaths per minute, oxygen saturation of 82% with atmospheric air and temperature of 38.9 degree Celsius. Further examination revealed accentuation of pulmonary component of second heart sound. Complete blood count revealed mild anemia and peripheral blood film showed trophozoites of Plasmodium vivax. Pulmonary CT angiography showed filling defects on the right and left pulmonary arteries. The patient was diagnosed to have plasmodium vivax malaria complicated with pulmonary thromboembolism. He was managed with intranasal oxygen, antimalarial agent and anticoagulation. Upon serial evaluations on the 3rd week and 2nd month of follow up, he did not have complaints and physical examination was non-remarkable.
Conclusion: Malaria is a protozoan disease with high mortality and morbidity. For a long time, severe cases of malaria were thought to be mostly caused by Plasmodium falciparum. However, recent evidences have shown a paradigm shift and we should remember that Plasmodium vivax can also cause severe malaria and this can be complicated by hypercoagulable conditions.
Key words : Malaria, Pulmonary thromboembolism, Plasmodium vivax