M Escher1, T M Kainikkara, A Grabner, G Ott, E F Stange, K R Herrlinger.
Abstract
HISTORY AND ADMISSION
FINDINGS: A 19-year-old HIV-positive man was admitted with fever of unknown origin and poor general condition. Antiretroviral therapy had been stopped by the patient eight months prior to admission. INVESTIGATIONS: Laboratory tests revealed pancytopenia, high viral load and low count of T-helper cells (13/µl). Computer tomography of the thorax showed small patchy infiltrations. Extensive examinations (microbiology, laboratory tests, multiple investigations) revealed no pathogen. Liver biopsy proved disseminated histoplasmosis. TREATMENT AND COURSE: Liposomal amphotericin B was started and switched to oral itraconazole after 14 days with itraconazole. With this treatment the patient condition improved and fever stopped. T-helper cells increased and the patient was discharged.
CONCLUSION: Disseminated histoplasmosis as an AIDS-defining opportunistic infection is uncommon (particularly as the patient had not been abroad in the last four years) and can be a life-threatening complication. Diagnosis must be confirmed by invasive methods especially in patients with compromised immune status and rapid clinical progression. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
HISTORY AND ADMISSION
FINDINGS: A 19-year-old HIV-positive man was admitted with fever of unknown origin and poor general condition. Antiretroviral therapy had been stopped by the patient eight months prior to admission. INVESTIGATIONS: Laboratory tests revealed pancytopenia, high viral load and low count of T-helper cells (13/µl). Computer tomography of the thorax showed small patchy infiltrations. Extensive examinations (microbiology, laboratory tests, multiple investigations) revealed no pathogen. Liver biopsy proved disseminated histoplasmosis. TREATMENT AND COURSE: Liposomal amphotericin B was started and switched to oral itraconazole after 14 days with itraconazole. With this treatment the patient condition improved and fever stopped. T-helper cells increased and the patient was discharged.
CONCLUSION: Disseminated histoplasmosis as an AIDS-defining opportunistic infection is uncommon (particularly as the patient had not been abroad in the last four years) and can be a life-threatening complication. Diagnosis must be confirmed by invasive methods especially in patients with compromised immune status and rapid clinical progression. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
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Year: 2012
PMID: 22294110 DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1298872
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Dtsch Med Wochenschr ISSN: 0012-0472 Impact factor: 0.628