Progressive disseminated histoplasmosis in a cohort of patients with HIV coinfection

Abstract

Objective: to identify the clinical manifestations and laboratory methods leading to the diagnosis of progressive disseminated histoplasmosis (PDH) in a cohort of patients co-infected with HIV.

Design: retrospective analysis of case histories. No further intervention.

Patients: forty patients with PDH and HIV infection from Hospital La María. January 1992 to December 2008.

Measurements: demographic data, signs and symptoms, and laboratory tests leading to the diagnosis of PDH.

Results: 40 patients, 34 males (85%) and 6 females (15%), with mean ages of 33.4 and 27 years, respectively. The dominant symptoms were: cough (77.5%), fever (90%), and anorexia with weight loss in 92.5% and 77.4%, respectively. Skin lesions in 55% and mucosal lesions in 50%, enlargement of lymph nodes in 62.5%, and hepatomegaly in 52.5%. Less frequent manifestations were dyspnea, splenomegaly, vomiting, diarrhea, and headache. Anemia was found in 85%, leucopenia in 52.5%, and thrombocytopenia in 30% of the patients. Mycological tests: directly positive in 21 samples: bronchoalveolar lavage (7), skin (6), lymph node (12), transbronchial biopsy (1), and mucosal lesion (1). H. capsulatum was isolated in all patients from samples of: skin (10), lymph node (18), blood (3), bone marrow (1), bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (10), and mucosa (3). Moreover, the fungus was isolated in more than one anatomical site in 7 patients. Serology carried out in 13 patients was reactive on agar gel immunodifusion test in 11 cases and on complement fixation in 10 cases.

Conclusion: in the face of a clinical picture consistent with PDH in a patient with HIV who presents with fever, constitutional symptoms, enlargement of lymph nodes, and involvement of the bone marrow, skin, and mucous membranes, laboratory testing allows easy confirmation of the clinically suspected condition