BACKGROUND Although cryptococcosis mainly occurs in the central nervous system and lungs in immunocompromised hosts, it can involve any body site or structure. Here we report the first case of primary cryptococcosis of a lumbar vertebra without involvement of the central nervous system or lungs in a relatively immunocompromised individual with rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma. CASE PRESEN...

Cryptococcosis is a life-threatening fungal infection among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients and also occurs frequently in HIV-negative patients. A retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients with cryptococcosis. Clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, treatment, and outcomes for 149 HIV-positive and 29 HIV-negative patients were compared. Neurological invo...

TO THE EDITOR—We read with interest the informative review by Wright and Fishman about central nervous system (CNS) syndromes in recipients of solid organ transplant (SOT) [1]. However, we believe that at least 2 points of their article deserve comments. First, in their Table 4, the authors report the “approximate incidence and usual post-transplant onset” of aspergillosis, cryptococcosis, and ...

One of the factors causing treatment failure in cryptococcosis is the resistance of Cryptococcus spp. to antifungal drugs, which has motivated the susceptibility assessment of isolates from patients with cryptococcosis, different clinical conditions and infections outcomes. Clinical isolates of Cryptococcus spp. from three different groups of patients were studied in the present investigation: ...

Introduction: A survey on cryptococcosis is being conducted regularly in Colombia since 1997. We present hereby the results corresponding to patients diagnosed from 2006 to 2010. Objective: To analyze the data obtained during this period. Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis of the corresponding surveys. Results: A total of 526 surveys originating from 72% of the Colombian political di...

BACKGROUND Cryptococcosis is considered as an opportunistic infection because it mainly occurs in immunosuppressed hosts. C. neoformans is usually acquired by the respiratory route and then may disseminate hematogenously to other places, such as meninges, bone and skin. Cutaneous involvement is a rare but important feature of disseminated cryptococcosis with a poor outcome if misdiagnosis. We r...

Infections due to Cryptococcus species occur globally and in a wide variety of hosts, ranging from those who are severely immunosuppressed to those who have phenotypically "normal" immune systems. Approximately 1 million cases of cryptococcosis occur throughout the world, and is it estimated that there are 650,000 associated deaths annually. Most of these cases occur among patients with advance...

Cryptococcosis is a human fungal infection of significant mortality and morbidity, especially in the meningoencephalitis form. Cryptococcosis is distributed worldwide and its agents, C. neoformans and C. gattii, present eight major molecular types-VNI-VNIV and VGI-VGIV respectively. The primary cryptococcosis caused by molecular type VGII (serotype B, MAT alpha) prevails in immunocompetent pati...

Cryptococcosis is a global invasive mycosis associated with significant morbidity and mortality. These guidelines for its management have been built on the previous Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines from 2000 and include new sections. There is a discussion of the management of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in 3 risk groups: (1) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected indi...