American doctors described the case of a 70-year-old patient who was suspected of having brain cancer, but a fungal infection was found in his head that had been there for about 30 years. This is reported by Science Alert.
According to experts, the disease was caused by inhalation of spores of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. Histoplasmosis (Daring's disease) usually affects the lungs, but fungi can invade other organs as well. H. capsulatum is distributed throughout the world, growing in soil and in the droppings of bats and birds. The fungus is usually infected by people with weakened immune systems, such as those with AIDS. Histoplasmosis can be fatal if left untreated.
An elderly man went to the clinic, complaining of changes in the psyche. The results of computed and magnetic resonance imaging showed that neoplasms were found in the patient's brain and adrenal glands. Doctors suspected metastatic cancer, but a biopsy of adrenal tissue showed the presence of yeast cells.
The patient reported that 30 years ago he visited North Carolina (the state where H. capsulatum is widespread), he himself lived in Arizona, where conditions for the growth of the fungus are unfavorable. According to doctors, it was in Carolina that he could pick up an infection, but this is a rare case when histoplasmosis did not cause any symptoms for so many years.