Objective: to identify the clinical manifestations and laboratory methods leading to the diagnosis of progressive disseminated histoplasmosis (PDH) in a cohort of patients co-infected with HIV. Design: retrospective analysis of case histories. No further intervention. Patients: forty patients with PDH and HIV infection from Hospital La Maria. January 1992 to December 2008. Measurements: demographic data, signs and symptoms, and laboratory tests leading to the diagnosis of PDH. Results: 40 patients, 34 males (85%) and 6 females (15%), with mean ages of 33.4 and 27 years, respectively. The dominant symptoms were: cough (77.5%), fever (90%), and anorexia with weight loss in 92.5% and 77.4%, respectively. Skin lesions in 55% and mucosal lesions in 50%, enlargement of lymph nodes in 62.5%, and hepatomegaly in 52.5%. Less frequent manifestations were dyspnea, splenomegaly, vomit