Current status of the physiopathology of pernicious malaria attacks

The understanding of the pathophysiology of cerebral malaria has much benefited from the modern techniques of in vitro cultivation of Plasmodium falciparum and from a better knowledge of the biology of the parasite. The demonstration of the existence of "knob-like protrusions" explains some of the processes giving way to changes in the deep capillaries of viscera and particularly of brain. In a synthetic view one can say that this localized vasculopathy is the main factor of the pathologic changes observed in cerebral malaria.