{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T02:47:26Z","timestamp":1773283646810,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,8]],"date-time":"2020-12-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1607385600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Infectious Disease Reports"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Travelers exposed to malaria may develop severe disease and complications. A less well-known complication is spontaneous pathologic splenic rupture, which is still under-reported and has never been reported in Israel. In this paper, we report a 23 years old healthy young man presenting in the emergency department, two weeks after coming back from Sierra Leone, with intermittent fever, mild tachycardia and mild left upper quadrant abdominal pain. The patient was diagnosed with Plasmodium falciparum infection and developed rapidly after hospital admission spleen rupture. He was managed conservatively at first but ultimately underwent splenectomy after being hemodynamically unstable. In the recovery period, the patient developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and was reintubated. A high level of suspicion is recommended in every malaria patient presenting with left upper quadrant abdominal pain, even if minimal. Ultrasonography availability in the internal medicine department may be a critical diagnostic tool, especially in non-endemic areas.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/idr12030022","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,10]],"date-time":"2020-12-10T22:15:36Z","timestamp":1607638536000},"page":"121-126","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Spontaneous Pathologic Splenic Rupture in a Patient with Plasmodium falciparum Infection, First Case Reported in Israel"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6074-0025","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yves","family":"Weinberg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Internal Medicine B Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel"},{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba 8410501, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillofacial, Barzilai University Medical Center, Hahistadrut 2, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Arie","family":"Feldman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Internal Medicine B Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel"},{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba 8410501, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4196-9937","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel J.","family":"Jakobson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba 8410501, Israel"},{"name":"Intensive Care Unit, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joseph","family":"Mishal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Internal Medicine B Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel"},{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba 8410501, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Guerra, C.A., Gikandi, P.W., Tatem, A.J., Noor, A.M., Smith, D.L., Hay, S.I., and Snow, S.W. (2008). The limits and intensity of plasmodium falciparum transmission: Implications for malaria control and elimination worldwide. PLoS Med., 5.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.0050038"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.1038\/nature03342","article-title":"The global distribution of clinical episodes of plasmodium falciparum malaria","volume":"434","author":"Snow","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"WHO (2019, March 15). World Malaria Report 2017. Available online: https:\/\/www.who.int\/malaria\/publications\/world-malariareport-2017\/report\/en\/."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1560","DOI":"10.1086\/518173","article-title":"Fever in returned travelers: Results from the geosentinel surveillance network","volume":"44","author":"Wilson","year":"2007","journal-title":"Clin. Infect. 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Med., 12.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-227X-12-11"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Agarwal, A.A., Sonkar, A., Kushwaha, J., and Gaurav, K. (2013). Spontaneous splenic rupture presenting as haemoperitoneum: Coinfection of plasmodium vivax and plasmodium Falciparum. BMJ Case Rep., 2013.","DOI":"10.1136\/bcr-2013-008851"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"343","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1462-5822.2011.01741.x","article-title":"The role of the spleen in Malaria","volume":"14","author":"Ferrer","year":"2012","journal-title":"Cell Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-018-2228-2","article-title":"Sudden spleen rupture in a plasmodium vivax-infected patient undergoing malaria treatment","volume":"17","author":"Val","year":"2018","journal-title":"Malar. J."}],"container-title":["Infectious Disease Reports"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2036-7449\/12\/3\/22\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T10:42:25Z","timestamp":1760179345000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2036-7449\/12\/3\/22"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,8]]},"references-count":11,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12]]}},"alternative-id":["idr12030022"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/idr12030022","relation":{},"ISSN":["2036-7449"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2036-7449","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,8]]}}}