title: [Two cases of visceral leishmaniasis from Kahramanmaraş, Turkey].
abstract: Turkey is an endemic area for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) according to the data of World Health Organization. CL is more widely distributed in Sanliurfa region (located at south-eastern part of Anatolia) of Turkey, while visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is reported sporadically from all parts of Turkey, especially in pediatric cases. However VL has not been reported from our region yet. Here we report two cases of VL from Kahramanmaraş region (located at eastern part of South Anatolia), one of which was a 57-year-old immuncompromised patient and the other was a 18-year-old immunocompetent patient. The common symptoms of the patients were high fever, hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia. The diagnosis of both patients was made by demonstration of the amastigotes of parasite in Giemsa-stained smears prepared from bone marrow aspiration samples, and isolation of promastigotes from cultures in NNN medium. The isolates were identified as Leishmania donovani with PCR and sequencing methods. Both of the patients were treated successfully with liposomal amphotericin B, resulting in complete cure. In conclusion, cases with fever of unknown origin, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia and hypergammaglobulinemia should be considered in terms of VL especially in Kahramanmaraş region.
authors.affiliation: Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Gaziantep, Turkey. ikaraoglan10@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: İlkay
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Karaoğlan
authors.forename: Fahriye
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ekşi
authors.forename: Handan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haydaroğlu Şahin
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pehlivan
authors.forename: Sema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tekin Şahin
authors.forename: Vuslat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Keçik Boşnak
authors.forename: Muhammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bilici
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Namıduru
authors.forename: Tekin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karslıgil
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000469:parasitology*; D005334:Fever; D006529:Hepatomegaly; D006801:Humans; D006942:Hypergammaglobulinemia; D007121:Immunocompetence; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010198:Pancytopenia; D013163:Splenomegaly; D014421:Turkey