Key result
A 56-year-old man with Plasmodium vivax malaria and acute myocarditis (ejection fraction 22%) fully recovered and regained normal cardiac function (ejection fraction 55%) after antimalarial and heart failure treatment.
Why the study?
Myocarditis resulting from malaria infection is uncommon.
Case Report (n=1)
No
Plasmodium vivax malaria can rarely cause acute reversible myocarditis, highlighting the need for clinical suspicion in patients presenting with heart failure symptoms.
Supports reversible myocarditis in P. vivax malaria with treatment; leaves open need for systematic evaluation in larger cohorts.
Myocarditis as a result of malaria infection is uncommon. However, we report a case of a Pakistani emigrant who presented with respiratory distress, fever, chills, and nausea at the emergency room. The patient had traveled to visit his relatives in Pakistan without receiving antimalarial chemoprophylaxis. (Travel clinic advises travelers to Pakistan to take antimalarial drugs as prophylaxis.) Cardiorespiratory examination revealed bilateral crepitation in all lung fields, as well as triple heart sounds. Examination of blood smear showed trophozoites and schizonts of Plasmodium vivax with low parasite density. Echocardiography showed diffuse hypokinesia with an ejection fraction of 22% consistent with acute myocarditis. The patient was given chloroquine phosphate, digoxin, perindopril arginine, furosemide, and spironolactone and gradually improved.
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FahmiY Khan (2019) conducted a case report in Plasmodium vivax malaria complicated by reversible myocarditis (n=1). Chloroquine phosphate, digoxin, perindopril arginine, furosemide, and spironolactone was evaluated on Clinical recovery and resolution of myocarditis. A 56-year-old man with Plasmodium vivax malaria and acute myocarditis (ejection fraction 22%) fully recovered and regained normal cardiac function (ejection fraction 55%) after antimalarial and heart failure treatment.
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