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Diagnostic Dilemma Of Disseminated Histoplasmosis Mimicking Hemophagocytosis Lymphohistiocytosis In Patient With Rheumatoid Arthritis On Anti-Tnf Therapy: Case Report And Review Of The Literature, Saurav Suman, Aleksander Lenert

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) have become the cornerstone for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other systemic autoimmune conditions. However, these biologic DMARDs can lead to various opportunistic infections such as viral infection, tuberculosis, and histoplasmosis. Furthermore, these biologics can also cause severe systemic inflammatory reactions known as hemophagocytosis lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) that can lead to multiorgan failure and high mortality. Due to overlapping clinical features and time-intensive microbiological culture methods, distinguishing between HLH and opportunistic infections can be challenging early in the disease course. We present a similar situation with our patient where the patient met the diagnostic criteria …

Central Nervous System Histoplasmosis: Multicenter Retrospective Study On Clinical Features, Diagnostic Approach And Outcome Of Treatment, Joseph Wheat, Thein Myint, Ying Guo, Phebe Kemmer, Chadi A. Hage, Colin Terry, Marwan M. Azar, James Riddell, Peter Ender, Sharon Chen, Kareem Shehab, Kerry Cleveland, Eden Esguerra, James Johnson, Patty Wright, Vanja Douglas, Pascalis Vergidis, Winnie Ooi, John Baddley, David Bamberger, Raed N. Khairy, Holenarasipur R. Vikram, Elizabeth Jenny-Avital, Geetha Sivasubramanian, Karen Bowlware, Barbara Pahud, Juan Sarria, Townson Tsai, Maha Assi, Satish Mocherla

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement occurs in 5 to 10% of individuals with disseminated histoplasmosis. Most experience has been derived from small single center case series, or case report literature reviews. Therefore, a larger study of central nervous system (CNS) histoplasmosis is needed in order to guide the approach to diagnosis, and treatment.

A convenience sample of 77 patients with histoplasmosis infection of the CNS was evaluated. Data was collected that focused on recognition of infection, diagnostic techniques, and outcomes of treatment.

Twenty nine percent of patients were not immunosuppressed. Histoplasma antigen, or anti-Histoplasma antibodies were detected in the …

Improvement In Diagnosis Of Histoplasma Meningitis By Combined Testing For Histoplasma Antigen And Immunoglobulin G And Immunoglobulin M Anti-Histoplasma Antibody In Cerebrospinal Fluid, Karen C. Bloch, Thein Myint, Luke Raymond-Guillen, Chadi A. Hage, Thomas E. Davis, Patty W. Wright, Felicia C. Chow, Laila Woc-Colburn, Raed N. Khairy, Alan C. Street, Tomotaka Yamamoto, Amanda Albers, L Joseph Wheat

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Background. Central nervous system (CNS) histoplasmosis is a life-threatening condition and represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Isolation of Histoplasma capsulatum from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or brain tissue is diagnostic; however, culture is insensitive and slow growth may result in significant treatment delay. We performed a retrospective multicenter study to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a new anti-Histoplasma antibody enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the detection of IgG and IgM antibody in the CSF for diagnosis of CNS histoplasmosis, the primary objective of the study. The secondary objective was to determine the effect of improvements in the Histoplasma galactomannan …