Histoplasmosis of lungs.

Abstract

HISTOPLASMOSIS is an infectious disease of protean clinical manifestations for the reason that the causative organism, the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, may affect practically any tissue of the body. The organs most commonly involved are the lymph nodes, liver, lungs, spleen, adrenal glands, bone marrow, kidneys, intestinal tract, oropharynx, larynx, and skin.1Up to the present time only about 200 cases of all varieties of histoplasmosis confirmed by cultural or histological methods have been reported in the world literature. In more than one-half of these patients there was definite evidence of histoplasmosis of the lungs, either as the sole manifestation of the disease or occurring in association with other organ involvement. INCIDENCE The paucity of authentic reports of histoplasmosis over the years by no means reflects the total incidence of infection or clinical disease due to H. capsulatum. Some of the factors which may have been responsible in the past for overlooking histoplasmosis were our limited knowledge of