[Pseudotumoral sublingual leishmaniasis caused by Leishmaniainfantum]

Abstract

Introduction: Mucosal leishmaniasis is endemic in certain parts of Latin America and are usually absent in Morocco. Herein we report a case of Leishmaniainfantum in a Moroccan patient.

Patients and methods: A 61-year-old male patient working as a tourist bus driver presented with a sublingual endobuccal tumor. He reported a history of treated cutaneous leishmaniasis of the lower lip in 2009 and had presented the sublingual oral tumor since December 2011. The histopathological findings as well as the species-specific PCR analysis confirmed the diagnosis of sublingual mucosal leishmaniasis due to L. infantum. HIV serology was negative. Our patient was then treated with intra-muscular meglumine antimoniate for 25 days, resulting in complete disappearance of the oral lesion.

Conclusion: Our case thus has several peculiarities: the strictly mucosal character of the lesion, occurring in an immunocompetent subject, the unusual pseudotumoral form, and the causative agent, L. infantum, not known for its mucosal tropism in our country.

Keywords: Leishmaniainfantum; Leishmaniose muqueuse; Oral leishmaniasis.