Acute rhabdomyolysis and delayed pericardial effusion in an Italian patient with Ebola virus disease: a case report

Abstract

Abstract Background During the 2013–2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic, some EVD patients, mostly health care workers, were evacuated to Europe and the USA. Case presentation In May 2015, a 37-year old male nurse contracted Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone. After Ebola virus detection in plasma, he was medically-evacuated to Italy. At admission, rhabdomyolysis was clinically and laboratory-diagnosed and was treated with aggressive hydration, oral favipiravir and intravenous investigational monoclonal antibodies against Ebola virus. The recovery clinical phase was complicated by a febrile thrombocytopenic syndrome with pericardial effusion treated with corticosteroids for 10 days and indomethacin for 2 months. No evidence of recurrence is reported. Conclusions A febrile thrombocytopenic syndrome with pericardial effusion during the recovery phase of EVD appears to be uncommon. Clinical improvement with corticosteroid treatment suggests that an immune-mediated mechanism contributed to the pericardial effusion.

Keywords

• Ebola Virus Disease
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Pericardial effusion