Publication date: Jun 07, 2025
Histoplasmosis usually presents as a pulmonary disease. However, histoplasmosis tracheitis is an extremely rare presentation that is often misdiagnosed. We present a case of a 41-year-old female, a known case of systemic sclerosis and chronic kidney disease, on steroids and receiving hemodialysis, who presented with persistent fever, dry cough, and vomiting following recovery from COVID-19 infection. Radiography revealed the presence of cavitating lung lesions, and an initial clinical differential diagnosis of granulomatosis with polyangiitis or tuberculosis was made. Bronchoscopic evaluation, however, revealed the presence of a nodule over the tracheal cartilage, which, on histopathology, revealed sheets of histoplasma-laden histiocytes, allowing a diagnosis of histoplasmosis tracheitis. Histoplasmosis tracheitis is a rare and frequently misdiagnosed condition that can delay treatment and worsen outcomes, underscoring the need for awareness and high clinical suspicion for timely, appropriate intervention.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Hemodialysis | Histoplasmosis |
| Kidney | histoplasmosis tracheitis |
| Steroids | immunocompromised |
| Tuberculosis | tracheal nodule |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | Pulmonary histoplasmosis |
| disease | MESH | tracheitis |
| disease | MESH | systemic sclerosis |
| disease | MESH | pulmonary disease |
| disease | MESH | chronic kidney disease |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| disease | MESH | infection |
| disease | MESH | granulomatosis with polyangiitis |
| disease | MESH | tuberculosis |
| pathway | KEGG | Tuberculosis |
| disease | IDO | intervention |