AN AUTOPSY CASE OF DISSEMINATED HISTOPLASMOSIS PROBABLY DUE TO INFECTION FROM A RENAL ALLOGRAFT

Abstract

An autopsy case of a 52‐year‐old Japanese male, who died of disseminated histoplasmosis, is reported. He had received a cadaveric renal allograft 4 years prior to death. The donor was a 33‐year‐old American negro male, who had resided in Texas. The patient had been treated with immunosuppressive drugs after renal transplantation, and mycotic pneumonia developed 3 months before death. At autopsy, acute necrotizing lesions composed of histiocytes were observed in the transplanted kidney, lungs, prostate gland and various lymph nodes. Abundant yeast‐like fungal elements, measuring 2‐5 μ m in diameter, were engulfed by the histiocytes, and were identified as Histoplasma capsulation by the immunoperoxidase method. The transplanted kidney was considered to have been the source of the infection.