Histoplasmosis Producing Vegetative Endocarditis

While studying the natives of Panama, Darling¹was the first to describe histoplasmosis. This investigator, in fact, reasoned that a condition similar to Old World leishmaniasis should be found in this area, and as a result of these studies infection brought about by histoplasmosis was first recognized as a clinical syndrome. In 1906 Darling proposed the name "histoplasma capsulata"; however, in 1908 he used the term "histoplasma capsulatum." He reported 1 case of histoplasmosis in 1906 with autopsy findings. In 1908 he published reports of 3 cases with autopsy findings, which included the case he reported in 1906. Darling found enormous numbers of small ovoid and round bodies in the liver, spleen and lymph glands in each of these 3 cases. The majority of these bodies were intracellular and differed structurally from members of the genus Leishmania; that is, they did not contain a chromatin rod or blepharoplast. He