[Visceral leishmaniasis in Alicante. Analysis of 21 cases]

We present 21 cases of visceral Leishmaniasis diagnosed in our hospital during the past 8 years. The diagnostic method used was the visualization of the parasite in bone marrow aspiratory puncture. All cases presented fever at admission, hepatosplenomegaly, anemia elevated sedimentation rate and polyclonal gammapathy. Two of our patients were diagnosed of AIDS during the course of the disease. Cure was observed in all cases after one cycle treatment with pentavalent antimonials except for the two AIDS cases one of whom died due to cerebral toxoplasmosis. We point out visceral Leishmaniasis as an opportunistic infection in patients with AIDS and its resistance to the usual treatment.