[Multifocal histoplasmosis due to Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii in a 22 year-old Senegalese patient without proven immunodepression]

Abstract

The authors report a case of multifocal African histoplasmosis with polymorphic skin involvement occuring in a patient without proven immunosuppression. He was a young 22-year-old patient from eastern Senegal - but born in Ouganda - who presented with polymorphic skin lesions: ombilicated papulo-nodules, gums and ulcerative and budding lesions. He showed lymphadenopathies without clinical inflammation and with a cheesy appearance of the biopsy but without tuberculosis and also hepatosplenic and bone involvement. Mycological samples of the skin and lymph nodes biopsies revealed yeasts of Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii with a positive culture on Sabouraud medium. HIV serology, HTLV1et 2, the serum proteins electrophoresis were unremarkable. Treatment with amphotericin B was irregular because of its inaccessibility in the national territory and its cost. The patient died of sepsis together with the aggravation of his disease.

Keywords: African histoplasmosis; Disseminated disease; Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii; Histoplasmose africaine; Histoplasmose disséminée; Immune competence; Immunocompétence; Senegal; Sénégal.