Disseminated histoplasmosis in immunosuppressed patients with non-specific clinical manifestations: Case report

Histoplasmosis diseminada en paciente inmunosuprimido con manifestaciones clínicas poco específicas: reporte de caso

Histoplasma was first described by the American physician Samuel Darling in 1905. The doctor noted the formation of intracellular organisms in tissues, such as the lungs, in a Martinique patient during the Panama Canal's construction. Its name was given because of its similarity to the plasmodium that attacks the histiocyte. We present the case of a 37-year-old male patient from Puerto Santander (Norte de Santander, Colombia), hospitalized at the Erasmo Meoz University Hospital (Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia) for acute abdominal pain. 

The invasive fiberoptic bronchoscopy study on the lung sample's KOH revealed yeast, prompting empirical treatment with itraconazole 200 mg every 8 hours for three days, followed by 200 mg every 12 hours for six weeks. The pathology report refers to intracellular blasts in lung and lymph node samples. A 3 mg/kg/day of liposomal amphotericin was administered for two weeks. The patient was kept under medical observation until her clinical improvement and subsequent hospital discharge.