Pulmonary histoplasmosis, importance of diagnostic methods, with report of an early case.

Abstract

A 23-year-old woman had been working in the laboratory at the State Tuberculosis Hospital for about one year. She had been a resident of Kentucky for four or five years, having previously resided in Maryland. Her general condition had always been very good, and she had an uneventful confinement in July, 1959. After about 12 weeks she returned to work and noticed a protracted cold with cough followed by a pleuritic type of pain on the right side. Physical examination did not show any unusual findings. There was no previous record of skin tests as far as the patient could recall. A preemployment roentgenogram in September, 1958, showed essentially normal findings (fig. 1). Six months later, on March 5, 1959, a repeat x-ray was obtained which showed a smooth round density just next to the right hilus (fig. 2). The patient was entirely symptom free. She was observed for a