title: Chronic cavitary pulmonary histoplasmosis.
abstract: Histoplasmosis is a systemic mycosis caused by the thermally dimorphic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, which can be isolated from soil contaminated with droppings from birds or bats. Chronic cavitary pulmonary histoplasmosis is one of the rarest clinical presentations of this disease. The differential diagnosis with tuberculosis should be made in patients presenting with cavitated lesions in upper lung segments. We report the case of a female patient with chronic cavitary pulmonary histoplasmosis who had presented with progressive dyspnea and worsening of the radiological pattern over a four-year period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Santa Maria University Hospital, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil. jwasb@terra.com.br
authors.forename: José Wellington Alves dos
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Gustavo Trindade
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Mônica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazzarotto
authors.forename: Juliana Kaczmareck
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Figaro
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spilmann
authors.forename: Gustavo Köhler
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Homrich
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006660:Histoplasmosis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000473:pathology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis