Disseminated histoplasmosis. An oportunistic infection in HIV positive patients Experience in the Hospital Nacional Prof. A. Posadas, 2011-2017

Abstract

Disseminated histoplasmosis is an endemic systemic mycosis, caused by the dimorphic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. The clinical manifestations depend on the inhaled fungal load, the immunological state of the patient and the virulence of the infecting fungal strain. The disseminated variant is most frequent in immunocompromised patients, with 90% of cases in patients with positive serology for HIV. In this series, 37 patients with diagnosis of HIV and disseminated histoplasmosis were evaluated. The 43.2% of the patients did not know their serology prior to the consultation due to histoplasmosis. The main clinical causes were impregnation syndrome (67.6%), fever (64.9%), respiratory symptoms (62.2%) and mucocutaneous manifestations (67.6%), among others. The 94.6% of the patients presented anemia, 75.7% had bicytopenia and 32.4% pancytopenia. The sensitivity of the blood cultures was 70.4%. The 86.5% of the patients did not have another opportunistic infection concomitant at the time of diagnosis. In 83.8% of patients, disseminated histoplasmosis was the first AIDS disease. A mortality of 14.7% was recorded.