Cranial and Spinal Locations of Histoplasma Capsulatum var. duboisii in Brazzaville, Congo

Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii is a rare fungus that is endemic in the Sahara and Madagascar in southern Africa. The present study was conducted to explain the confirmed cases of histoplasmosis.

This retrospective study was conducted at the Division of Neurosurgery of Brazzaville teaching hospital in the Republic of Congo. The clinical records of all of the confirmed cases admitted between January 2014 and December 2017 were reviewed. 

All of the five cases of confirmed histoplasmosis, including two women and three men, with a mean age of 42 years old, admitted to the Division of Neurosurgery over four years were immunocompetent to HIV. Radiological imaging identified a localized form of cold abscess in two of the patients and disseminated forms in three male cases. Lung lesions were also observed in two patients with multilevel spondylodiscitis and lung diseases, and clavicular osteitis in the other patient. Clavicular osteitis was also found to be associated with cutaneous fistulization in one of the patients, with cutaneous nodules in the second patient and with cutaneous nodules and pulmonary lesions in the third. Appropriate outcomes were observed for the localized forms but undesirable ones for the disseminated forms. Four patients had received medical and surgical treatments. This treatment caused an appropriate evolution in patients with localized forms and an undesirable evolution in the two scattered forms. These patients died upon admission due to the complications associated with their severe neurological condition. The final case died before beginning the antifungal treatment following a septic shock with the fistulization of osteitis clavicularis as its potential cause. 

Although infections with Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii are rare, the lack of comprehensive knowledge on this fungus in the majority of medical staff can explain the delays in treating these infections. Microbiological analyses are therefore required to be performed on pathological materials in the event of suppuration to assist with early diagnosis and effective management.