Mediastinal histoplasmosis with cardiac involvement in a cat

• Published in: Journal of veterinary cardiology Vol. 31; pp. 15 - 22
• Main Authors: Boyd, N., Thomason, J., Pohlman, L., Anselmi, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-10-2020
• Subjects: Animals; Antifungal Agents - therapeutic use; Antigenuria; Biopsy, Fine-Needle - veterinary; Cat Diseases - diagnosis; Cat Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Cat Diseases - drug therapy; Cats; Diagnosis, Differential; Echocardiography - veterinary; Feline; Fluconazole - therapeutic use; Heart base mass; Heart Diseases - diagnosis; Heart Diseases - veterinary; Histoplasma - isolation & purification; Histoplasmoma; Histoplasmosis - diagnosis; Histoplasmosis - veterinary; Male; Mediastinum; Histoplasmoma; Antigenuria; Feline; Heart base mass
• ISSN: 1760-2734; 1875-0834
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvc.2020.07.002

Histoplasmosis is the second most common fungal infection reported among domestic felines in the United States. Dissemination of the organism after inoculation is common and affected organ systems include the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, reticuloendothelial organs, skeletal system, integument, and ocular system. However, histoplasmosis presenting as a discrete granulomatous mass identified on echocardiogram has never been reported in the veterinary literature. Here, we describe the first case of feline histoplasmosis presenting as a granuloma with cardiac involvement. The patient, a 6-year-old male neutered domestic longhair feline, was referred for tachypnea and dyspnea. A mass in the cranial mediastinum abutting the heart was diagnosed via two-dimensional echocardiography. Cytology of fine needle aspirates from the mass revealed round yeast structures consistent with Histoplasma spp. The patient was treated with oral fluconazole therapy, and subsequent rechecks have shown marked improvement in clinical parameters, lesion size, and antigen concentrations.