This morning we were lucky to be joined by Dr. Darcy Wooten, an amazing HIV Medicine attending and APD of the Infectious Disease Fellowship, to discuss one of her Owen clinic patients.
The 30-year old man with newly diagnosed HIV presented to our hospital with cough, fevers, chills, night sweats, decreased appetite, and recent weight loss. On admission, the patient had a CD4 count of 102 cell/uL and viral load of 185,000 copies/mL. The CXR revealed a diffuse micronodular/miliary pattern and CT showed upper lobe predominant diffuse ground glass opacities. Initially concerning for TB, the patient’s work-up was significant for elevated serum Coccidiodes IgG antibodies, positive cocci complement fixation with a 1:512 titer, and negative bone scan and spine computerized tomography. The patient was diagnosed with severe pulmonary coccidioidomycosis with presumed dissemination (based on the high titer).
The patient was treated with amphotericin B for severe cocci and discharged on fluconazole therapy (along with antiretroviral therapy and Bactrim prophylaxis). He could not tolerate the fluconazole and was switched to Posaconazole. The patient subsequently developed severe hypertension refractive to amlodipine, lisinopril, and hydrochlorothiazide. Work up demonstrated low levels of potassium, renin, and aldosterone. The patient was diagnosed with pseudohyperaldosteronism, taken off Posaconazole, and placed on itraconazole and spironolactone, leading to a resolution side effects. The mechanism behind pseudohyperaldosteronism is similar to that of licorice root extract, where steroid synthesis products directly activate mineralocorticoid receptors. Treatment is focused on cessation of Posaconazole and antagonism of the mineralocorticoid receptor with spironolactone.