Malakoplakia in a secondary health care facility in Nigeria: a case report

Abstract

Background: Malakoplakia is a rare chronic granulomatous disease of unknown prevalence, usually of infectious origin, seen mainly in the urinary tract with just about 700 cases reported worldwide as of 2020.
Aim: We present the 1st case of malakoplakia diagnosed at a secondary health care institution in Edo State, in the Southern part of Nigeria.
Case report: Our patient is a 55-year-old woman who presented to our unit following a referral from the family medicine unit, with a 2-year history of passage of foul-smelling urine, and a nine-month history of recurrent haematuria which was terminal, painful, no clots, no dizziness nor fainting spells. No lithouria, no necroturia, no other lower urinary tract symptoms. Histology of biopsied tumors revealed typical Michaelis Gutmann bodies. A diagnosis of Malakoplakia was made and she was placed on antibiotics which resulted in good recovery with resolution of majority of symptoms.
Conclusion: Although rare, a diagnosis of malakoplakia is still seen in our environment and should be considered as a close differential of bladder tumors.