[Histoplasmosis mimicking tuberculosis spondylodiscitis in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis]

Osteoarticular infection caused by lt i gt Histoplasma capsulatum lt i gt is rare in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) making its diagnosis difficult. In the immunocompetent individuals this infection is autolimited or localized, while in immunodepressed patients the infection may be disseminated, and represents the reactivation of latent focuses or exogenous acquisition. Fungemia occurs in 20% of the cases; bones and joints are involved in 15%, being the spine the most common site of infection. We describe a clinical case of a woman with RA and spondylodiscitis caused by Histoplasma capsulatum with an initial diagnosis of vertebral tuberculosis. The complications of the treatment with amphotericin B, such as, vomiting and severe hypokalemia, led to several interruptions in the medication causing the spread of the pathogen into the liver and lungs.