Introduction:Malaria is an endemic infection in tropical circles. It can be transmitted from mosquitoes bite, but exceptional cases have been attributed to multiorgan transplantation.Case report: This is a 34-year-old woman who received a heart transplant for finalstage dilated cardiomyopathy. Over the hospitalization, she developed fever, cephalalgia, and tonic-clonic seizures with MRI findings compatible with posterior reversible encephalopathy. A thick blood smear revealed hemoparasitic forms of Plasmodium vivax. Afterward, malaria was also diagnosed in recipients of one kidney and liver of the same organ donor. First-line treatment with artesunate was prescribed for 3 days and chloroquine with primaquine thereafter for 14 days. The patient was discharged and returned to the emergency department 5 days later, complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms and developed multiorgan failure that led to death.
Conclusion:We report a case of malaria transmission through heart transplantation.Despite adequate and supervised treatment, it can be related to a fatal outcome.Malaria screening in organ donors should be considered in regions where endemicity can lead to rare cases of transmission by transplantation.
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