Acute kidney injury in patients with Plasmodium vivax malaria: Clinicohistopathological profile

Context: There has been an unexplained increase in the number of cases with multiorgan dysfunction including acute kidney injury (AKI), attributed to Plasmodium vivax monoinfection. Only a few case reports in literature have published the renal biopsy findings in these patients. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and histopathologic profile of patients with P. vivax malaria monoinfection and AKI. Settings and Design: A prospective study was performed in a tertiary care hospital in North-Western India. Subjects and Methods: The study included patients diagnosed with P. vivax monoinfection on peripheral smear blood films and rapid diagnostic test (positive for P. vivax specific lactate dehydrogenase). AKI was defined based on the WHO criteria for complicated malaria, i.e. serum creatinine >265 μmol/l or 3 mg/dl. The patients were initiated on hemodialysis for persistent hyperkalemia, fluid overload, severe metabolic acidosis, or uremic symptoms. Renal biopsy was performed in the presence of active urinary sediments (proteinuria, hematuria) or persistence of renal failure >14 days. Results: A total of thirty patients fulfilled AKI criteria. The patients with AKI were older (mean age 42.1 ± 10.9 years), male, with a longer duration of illness (mean 12.3 ± 10 days) and associated with multisystem dysfunction. The mean serum creatinine was 7.58 ± 3.2 mg/dl, thrombocytopenia was seen in 47%. Thirty percent had severe anemia requiring a blood transfusion. Renal biopsy was performed in six patients for various indications. The most common pattern was acute tubular necrosis (four patients), followed by acute cortical necrosis (1), and thrombotic microangiopathy (one patient). The complete renal recovery was seen in 24 (80%). Two patients became dialysis-dependent. Conclusions: AKI associated with P. vivax monoinfection is not rare as previously thought. Therefore, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any patient presenting with AKI.