Desperate times, desperate measures: successful use of chemotherapy in treatment of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) due to disseminated histoplasmosis

Abstract

We describe a case of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) secondary to disseminated histoplasmosis, which was treated with chemotherapy in addition to standard antifungal therapy. While HLH in the setting of infections is very well described, its treatment in this setting is controversial, with some physicians treating only the underlying infection, whereas others using immune suppression in addition to antimicrobials. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report documenting the successful treatment of an adult patient with HLH due to disseminated histoplasmosis using etoposide chemotherapy after initial antifungal therapy failed to show improvement.

Keywords: biological agents; haematology (incl blood transfusion); hepatitis other; immunology; infectious diseases.