Histoplasmose disseminada felina – achados radiográficos

Abstract

Histoplasmosis is a systemic fungal disease of acute or chronic clinical character, which can affect humans and animals. The etiologic agent of this disease is Histoplasma capsulatum, a dimorphic fungus. This work describes the imaging findings of a feline of approximately twelve years old, from the city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil diagnosed through fungal culture of bronchoalveolar lavage, fine needle aspiration cytology of the forelimb and oral mucosa. The patient was treated at the hospital with complaints of respiratory difficulty, swelling in the dorsal aspect of the right carpus, slight protrusion of the third right eyelid, swelling in the oral mucosa, sneezing and nasal secretion. In the radiographic examination, a moderate loss of bone density was seen in the skull bones and carpal bone, with bone irregularity in the carpus and diffuse bronchointerstitial lung pattern in the lung fields. Treatment with itraconazole was prescribed to which the patient did not respond satisfactorily, with a worsening of the clinical and radiographic picture, leading to the patient's death. It is concluded that radiographic examinations are of great importance for defining the affected areas.