A Life Saving Exchange: A Case of Severe Direct Hyperbilirubinemia And Liver Failure in Leptospirosis Successfully Treated with Plasma Exchange

Abstract

Leptospirosis is an infection with multiorgan involvement and a high mortality rate. Extreme hyperbilirubinemia in leptospirosis has been reported to exert multiple cellular toxic effects on kidney and liver cells. We describe a young man with leptospirosis who had extreme hyperbilirubinemia, acute liver injury, coagulopathy, hepatic encephalopathy, and pulmonary haemorrhages. Early initiation of therapeutic plasma exchange (PEX) dramatically improved patient’s clinical and biochemical parameters. We conclude that, in addition to the mortality benefit provided by PEX in severe pulmonary hemorrhage syndrome in leptospirosis, PEX is also beneficial in reducing systemic toxic insults of hyperbilirubinemia.

Keywords

• plasma exchange
• leptospirosis
• hyperbilirubinemia
• pulmonary haemorrhage