title: Visceral leishmaniasis in immunosuppressed Caucasian patient.
abstract: A 64-year-old man was admitted with fever, weight loss, fatigue and night sweats. He was known to have rheumatoid arthritis and had been taking methotrexate for 1 year. He had worked in Saudi Arabia until 1994 and had been living in Spain for 6 months every year. Clinical examination showed an enlarged spleen. Routine investigations showed pancytopaenia. Serial blood cultures were negative. CT scan confirmed splenomegaly and was otherwise unremarkable. Bone marrow biopsy revealed Leishmania amastigote consistent with a diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. After discussing with the hospital for tropical diseases (HTD), he was started on liposomal amphotericin B. Following two infusions of amphotericin B, he started improving as his fever, night sweats and weakness had settled. He was then discharged and followed up in HTD clinic 4 weeks later where he was found to be consistently improving.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Department, Conquest Hospital, St Leonard's On Sea, UK. muhammad.toqeer@nhs.net
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toqeer
authors.forename: Nadeem
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lockwood
mesh_terms: D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; C068538:liposomal amphotericin B; D000666:Amphotericin B