Title
Case report: Mucosal leishmaniasis presenting with nasal septum perforation after almost thirty years
Date Issued
01 January 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Abstract
Mucosal leishmaniasis (ML) is associated with progressive tissue destruction and granuloma formation, often after a considerable period of latency from an initial cutaneous infection. We report a case of recurrent epistaxis of 3 years duration and nasopharyngeal obstruction in a woman with treated cutaneous leishmaniasis nearly 30 years before and with no further exposure to Leishmania. Computed tomography revealed nasal septal perforation and histopathology demonstrated chronic inflammation. Microscopy was negative for amastigotes, but molecular testing of nasal mucosa biopsy detected Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. The patient underwent 28 days of treatment with IV sodium stibogluconate and her symptoms improved significantly. Sixteen months after treatment, she continues to have episodic epistaxis and detectable parasite load in her nasal lesion. Although ML is known to take years to decades to develop, there are few reported cases in the literature of such a long latency period. This report highlights the importance of considering ML in the differential diagnosis of chronic epistaxis in countries where leishmaniasis is endemic or in immigrants from these countries, even when presentation occurs decades after leaving an endemic region.
Start page
327
End page
330
Volume
99
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Otorrinolaringología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85051076976
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
00029637
Sponsor(s)
We thank Victor Rojas Figueroa, otolaryngologist at the Hospital Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, and resident clinician Lisbeth Meza from the same service. We also thank Maxy de los Santos from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6 (NAMRU-6) in Lima, Peru for diagnostic support. Andres G. Lescano is sponsored by the training grant D43 TW007393 awarded by the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health awarded to Emerge, the Emerging Diseases and Climate Change Research Unit of the School and Public Health Administration at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Acknowledgments: We thank Victor Rojas Figueroa, otolaryngologist at the Hospital Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, and resident clinician Lisbeth Meza from the same service. We also thank Maxy de los Santos from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6 (NAMRU-6) in Lima, Peru for diagnostic support. Andres G. Lescano is sponsored by the training grant D43 TW007393 awarded by the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health awarded to Emerge, the Emerging Diseases and Climate Change Research Unit of the School and Public Health Administration at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus