CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1614790
Visceral Leishmaniasis Misdiagnosed as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a 36-Year-Old Migrant Worker
Provisionally accepted
- 1International Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
- 2First Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
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Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, is an often-neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania donovani. It is endemic in certain regions of China, including Shanxi Province. This case report describes a 36-year-old female migrant worker who regularly travels between Shanxi Province, her hometown and Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. She presented with prolonged fever, splenomegaly, pancytopenia and high title anti-nuclear antibodies. She was initially diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and associated polyclonal gammopathy. Her condition failed to improve with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants. Further evaluation revealed VL, confirmed by bone marrow smear and molecular testing. Treatment with liposomal amphotericin B led to prompt clinical resolution. This case highlights the importance of obtaining travel history and considering parasitic infections in patients with refractory fever and splenomegaly.
Keywords: Visceral leishmaniasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Liposomal amphotericin B, Bone Marrow, diagnosis
Received: 19 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sheng, Lin, Han, Wang and Hou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Feng-Qin Hou, International Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
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