Spinal African histoplamosis simulating tuberculous spondylitis

Florence Musoke, Makerere University Hospital P. O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda.

Abstract
Spinal histoplasmosis is a rare disease condition that must be differentiated from other common inflammatory lesions of the spine such as tuberculosis. A case is presented of a pathologically proven African spinal hisptoplasmosis in a 39-year old female.

Paraplegia and fever were the patient clinical fingings. Cervical plain radiography demonstrated a lytic destructive process of the lower cervical spine with radiographic signs similar to tuberculosis. The surgical management and chemotherapy of histoplasmosis are breifly discussed.

Keywords: African histoplasmosis, spine, radiology, histopathology African Health Sci. 2001; 1(1): 29-10