Subsequently, a substudy was performed on the brainstem of 20 fatal malaria cases, because this was the region with greatest evidence of disruption to vascular integrity, and investigated using immunohistochemistry for the activation of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signalling pathway via VEGF receptor 2 (phosphorylated KDR), that is a known potent activator of vascular permeability in the brain [13,14]. The gene discussed is KDR; the disease is malaria.