Disseminated histoplasmosis presenting as colonic pseudotumor

Atypical Obstructive Pseudotumors in AIDS as the Initial Manifestation of Gastrointestinal Histoplasmosis

“…Some cases in the literature report diarrhea and abdominal pain as the most common symptoms [2][3][4][5][6][7]; however, our patient presented with chronic constipation. This atypical symptom may be the result of the mechanical obstruction of the lumen by the mass.…”

“…This case report is unique because the infection presented as a pseudotumoral mass obstructing 80% of the colonic lumen. Although we identified six cases of intestinal H. capsulatum in immunosuppressed patients reported in the literature, all of those cases presented as intestinal ulcers rather than obstructive entities [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

“…Histoplasmosis is a common comorbidity in AIDS patients [8]; however, this condition can also be reported in immunocompetent patients [4,9].…”

“…The infection is caused by breathing spores from soil contaminated by bird and bat droppings [1,4,9]. For this reason, pulmonary histoplasmosis is the classical presentation of the infection.…”

“…Intestinal ulcers are common colonoscopic findings in gastrointestinal histoplasmosis [2,[4][5][6][7]. An obstructive lesion was reported only by Winn et al [4].…”