Gastrointestinal paracoccidioidomycosis: an overview.

Paracoccidioidomycosis is the most prevalent mycosis in Latin America. Although the lungs are the primary site of infection, physicians often see patients because of disseminated disease. Imported paracoccidioidomycosis has been described in different regions of the world in patients who lived in endemic areas. Gastrointestinal disease owing to P. brasiliensis is rarely recognized in life because of nonspecific clinical manifestations. Gastrointestinal disease can present as part of progressive dissemination of infection or as a result of local complications from a silent healing process. This review will summarize the salient features of gastrointestinal paracoccidioidomycosis.