Kidney involvement in Plasmodium falciparum infection in a pregnant patient

The course of kidney function and outcomes of severe malaria infection in pregnant women is poorly understood. The indications for renal replacement therapy in pregnant patients with AKI are similar to the general population. This is the case of a pregnant patient with severe Plasmodium falciparum infection that caused cerebral malaria, acute kidney injury (AKI) who required renal replacement therapy and kidney biopsy during her hospitalization.

A 29-year-old pregnant woman from Equatorial Guinea was admitted to the hospital with haemolytic anaemia, hyperbilirubinaemia and thrombocytopenia. During hospitalization, a thick blood smear was performed where parasitaemia by P. falciparum were observed and confirmed by real-time PCR assay. The patient developed cerebral malaria secondary to an ischaemic-type cerebral vascular event, hypotension and severe. After confirming diagnosis of P. falciparum infection, artesunate, artemether/lumefantrine and primaquine were started. Kidney biopsy revealed an active tubulointerstitial nephritis with acute tubular lesion and pigment tubulopathy with negative immunofluorescence. After CVVHDF, the patient received intermittent haemodialysis until the recovery of kidney function. After discharge, follow-up was carried until the successful resolution of the pregnancy by cesarean delivery and not shown deterioration in kidney function or proteinuria.

In this case, intensive dialysis was started and dialysis intensity progressively reduced when kidney function improved. Due to the evolution of kidney function, a kidney biopsy was performed which showed tubulointerstitial nephritis as a manifestation of the infection. While the kidney biopsy was of interest for discriminating between tubular and glomerular involvement, the availability of placental biomarkers (sflt1-PlGF) would have been of help for ruling out preeclampsia and placental damage. The multidisciplinary approach to AKI during pregnancy should be the rule, with diligent care of maternal-fetal well-being during pregnancy and monitoring of kidney function after delivery.