What are the complications seen with histoplasmosis?
The majority (about 90%) of people that are infected with H. capsulatum recover completely with no complications. A few cases may show small areas of lung scarring on chest X-rays. With progressive severity of the disease (chronic to disseminated), the complications become more numerous and disabling. Pleural effusions and pericarditis can develop in about 5% of acute symptomatic patients. Another 5% may develop rheumatologic problems like arthritis, erythema nodosum, or erythema multiforme. About 90% of patients with chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis develop cavitary lung lesions, and some may develop pulmonary fibrosis and dyspnea (shortness of breath), and some may get adrenal gland infections which may be rarely associated with Cushing’s syndrome (elevated cortisol levels, causing upper body obesity and a rounded face). Others may develop ocular histoplasmosis syndrome in which H. capsulatum spreads from the lungs to the retinal blood vessels (choroid) which become inflamed (uveitis
