PSEUDO-GAUCHER CELLS IN DISSEMINATED ATYPICAL MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTION - A CASE REPORT

Atypical Mycobacteria also known variably as Mycobacteria other than tubercle (MOTT),Non Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) and Environmental Mycobacteria (EM)(1) are ubiquitous in theenvironment existing in soil and water, as pathogens in birds and cattle and as pharyngeal flora inclinically well humans(2). Only rarely described as an invasive pathogen in immunocompetenthumans, they frequently cause disseminated disease in patients with primary and acquired immunedeficiency syndrome. One such case is presented here. A 19 year old female presented withgeneralized lymphadenopathy, organomegaly and opportunistic infections. She was treated in thepast 5 times as a case of tuberculosis. She had normal plasma glucose and she tested negative forHIV ELISA. Histopathological examination of the lymph node received showed sheets of Pseudo-Gaucher cells. Sections stained by Ziehl-Neelsen showed acid fast bacilli loaded within thehistiocytes (Pseudo -Gaucher cells)