Disseminated Histoplasmosis: A Cause of Hemophagocytic Syndrome

Disseminated histoplasmosis associated with acquired hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a potentially life-threatening clinical syndrome caused by uncontrolled activation of lymphocytes and histiocytes resulting in high levels of cytokines. Acquired HLH occurs in autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious, and immunosuppressive disorders. Prompt identification and treatment of an underlying triggering cause improves clinical outcome.

Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis and Progressive Disseminated Histoplasmosis.

Histoplasmosis-associated hemophagocytic syndrome: a case report.

Hemophagocytic syndrome is a macrophage disorder that may develop as a result of immunological activation, such as that seen in severe infection. It has been described in persons with HIV/AIDS and in those with a variety of HIV-associated opportunistic infections, including those caused by Histoplasma capsulatum. If present, this disorder may portend a poorer prognosis. We describe an HIV-posit...

Disseminated Histoplasmosis and Secondary Hemophagocytic Syndrome in a Non-HIV Patient

Histoplasma duboisii, a variant of Histoplasma capsulatum that causes "African histoplasmosis," can be resistant to itraconazole, requiring intravenous amphotericin B treatment. Rarely, these patients do not respond to intravenous antifungal therapy, and in such cases, patients may progress to develop secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). We present a case of a 34-year-old male pa...

Disseminated histoplasmosis with hemophagocytic syndrome in a patient with AIDS: description of one case and review of the Spanish literature.

We report a case of disseminated histoplasmosis in a 33-year old Ecuadorian patient with AIDS and a CD4 lymphocyte count of 39 cells/microl. He presented with prolonged fever and cough, was diagnosed with hemophagocytic syndrome and multiple organ failure and died 18 days after admission. Histoplasma capsulatum was isolated post-mortem from bone marrow biopsy and blood culture. In a literature ...