Follow-up of Patients with Chronic Pulmonary Histoplasmosis Treated with Amphotericin B

¹ Veterans Administration Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio
² Veterans Administration Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee

The late results of chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis treated with amphotericin B are of interest because of the chronic relapsing character of the disease. A total of 89 cases from four hospitals were reviewed according to a uniform plan. Of 56 cases that were observed repeatedly for an average of four years and four months, 48 (86 percent) were either well or died of causes other than histoplasmosis. Eighteen were well and working. Nineteen had inactive histoplasmosis and were not working. Six patients relapsed, but responded to a second course of treatment. Five cases died and had no active histoplasmosis at autopsy. The remaining eight patients (14 percent) had unsatisfactory results. These chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis cases treated with amphotericin B supply data covering longer time periods than those derived from controlled observations of early results reported elsewhere.