A new report of the man’s case reveals by the team of US-based doctors that a 70-year-old man who underwent a heart transplant in 1986 was diagnosed with a fungal infection after 30 years.
Histoplasma is common in some parts of the U.S. - namely, around the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys - but not in the Southwest. Indeed, the case is unusual because the man lives in Arizona and he did not spend much time outside of the state. Symptoms of Histoplasmosis, also known as Cave disease, usually appear between 3-17 days of inhaling the fungi.
Brain scans of the man’s head revealed abnormal brain tissue, leading doctors to think that he might have had a tumor. Additional tests revealed that the man also had abnormal growths on his adrenal glands, which produce a variety of important hormones.
The man learned of his infection when he went to see infectious-disease experts at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson because he had been feeling confused for four days, according to the case report. Doctors concluded the patient was susceptible to it as he was on long-term immunosuppressants so that the heart wasn’t rejected. The man was given an antifungal medication to treat the infection.
Histoplasma is common in some parts of the U.S. - namely, around the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys - but not in the Southwest. Indeed, the case is unusual because the man lives in Arizona and he did not spend much time outside of the state. Symptoms of Histoplasmosis, also known as Cave disease, usually appear between 3-17 days of inhaling the fungi.
Brain scans of the man’s head revealed abnormal brain tissue, leading doctors to think that he might have had a tumor. Additional tests revealed that the man also had abnormal growths on his adrenal glands, which produce a variety of important hormones.
The man learned of his infection when he went to see infectious-disease experts at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson because he had been feeling confused for four days, according to the case report. Doctors concluded the patient was susceptible to it as he was on long-term immunosuppressants so that the heart wasn’t rejected. The man was given an antifungal medication to treat the infection.