Desperate times, desperate measures: successful use of chemotherapy in treatment of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) due to disseminated histoplasmosis

Authors

Sunny RK Singh, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Kannan Thanikachalam, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Vijayalakshmi Donthireddy, Henry Ford HealthFollow

Recommended Citation

Singh SRK, Thanikachalam K, and Donthireddy V. Desperate times, desperate measures: successful use of chemotherapy in treatment of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) due to disseminated histoplasmosis. BMJ Case Rep 2020; 13(9).

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2-2020

Publication Title

BMJ Case Rep

Abstract

We describe a case of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) secondary to disseminated histoplasmosis, which was treated with chemotherapy in addition to standard antifungal therapy. While HLH in the setting of infections is very well described, its treatment in this setting is controversial, with some physicians treating only the underlying infection, whereas others using immune suppression in addition to antimicrobials. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report documenting the successful treatment of an adult patient with HLH due to disseminated histoplasmosis using etoposide chemotherapy after initial antifungal therapy failed to show improvement.

PubMed ID

32878853

Volume

13

Issue

9