Leishmaniasis diagnosed by liver biopsy: management of two atypical cases.

Two patients presenting with pyrexia of unknown origin were diagnosed as having visceral leishmaniasis based on the presence of Leishmania donovani bodies in liver tissue. Of particular interest is that these two case reports suggest that in patients with pyrexia of unknown origin, a liver biopsy for L. donovani bodies should be considered even when several months have passed since leaving an endemic area, when splenomegaly is absent, when bone marrow examination and serology are not diagnostic, and even when abnormal coagulation necessitates a transjugular liver biopsy.