Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with mediastinal histoplasmosis affecting the heart
By N. Boyd et al.·Published in Journal of Veterinary Cardiology·2020·View original on Semantic Scholar →
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Original publication title: Mediastinal histoplasmosis with cardiac involvement in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old male neutered domestic longhair cat was brought in for rapid breathing and difficulty breathing. An ultrasound of the heart revealed a mass near the heart, which was found to be a fungal infection called histoplasmosis. The cat was treated with an oral medication called fluconazole, and follow-up visits showed significant improvement in his breathing and the size of the mass.
People also search for: cat breathing problems · histoplasmosis treatment for cats · cat heart mass symptoms
Abstract
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.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/32861029