Systemic talc granulomatosis associated with disseminated histoplasmosis in a drug abuser.

A 32-year-old intravenous drug abuser was found to have systemic talc granulomatosis and disseminated histoplasmosis. The clinicopathologic findings of this case support the hypothesis that the patient was predisposed to disseminated histoplasmosis by repeated intravenous talc administration. The effects of silica, a close relative of talc, on macrophages and the role of macrophages in recovery from Histoplasma capsulatum infection are described.