[Continuous quinidine infusion and blood exchange transfusion in severe tropical malaria: a case report]

We report on a serious case of malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum. Although the 46-year-old Swiss female had strictly followed the recommended prophylaxis with proguanil and chloroquine she was infected during a stay in Namibia which had lasted several month. The patient had poor prognostic signs such as encephalopathy (cerebral malaria), a parasitemia of 34% but only moderate renal impairment. Instead of the classical treatment with quinine, the patient was treated with a constant infusion of quinidine over 3 days which was combined with an exchange transfusion of approximately 2 liters on the first day of treatment. All clinical signs of the infection improved within less than 2 days as did the parasitemia. The patient was discharged after a hospital stay of 11 days. Quinidine as opposed to quinine may be more readily available, less toxic and more efficacious. Treatment with quinidine must carefully be monitored. Exchange blood transfusions may be an important additional therapeutic modality in severe plasmodium falciparum malaria.