Cryptococcus neoformans usually involves the central nervous system and the respiratory tract. We report a case of disseminated cryptococcosis with a liver abscess and meningoencephalitis in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome. Computed tomography of the abdomen showed a 3-cm low-attenuated lesion in the left lobe of liver. Cultures from specimens of blood, the liver abscess, and the cerebr...

Cryptococcus has emerged as a significant pathogen in immunocompromised patients. While the diagnostic testing and the antifungal treatment of cryptococcal infections have become firmly established in clinical practice, new developments and areas of ambiguity merit further consideration. These include the potential for donor transmission of Cryptococcus; cirrhosis-associated cryptococcosis, par...

To our knowledge and literature search, concurrent cryptococcal meningitis and neurosyphilis in a patient have rarely been reported. Here, we report a 37-year-old male with HIV infection presented with headache and dizziness for 5 days along with memory difficulty and personality changes for about 1 week. During the hospital stay, cryptococcal meningitis was confirmed with positive cerebral spi...

AIDS-related cryptococcal meningitis continues to cause a substantial burden of death in low and middle income countries. Better diagnostics allow detection of cryptococcosis in the asymptomatic phase and using these technologies to screen at-risk persons would likely reduce mortality. The World Health Organization recommends cryptococcal antigen screening among populations with a prevalence of...

An immunocompetent 51 year-old female presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with a chief complaint of transient loss of consciousness and was found to have cryptococcal meningitis. She complained of general fatigue and a 'cramping' sensation in her right arm for one week. The physical exam was significant for the presence of a right homonymous hemianopsia and the absence of fever or signs ...

The incidence of cryptococcal infection is high in developing countries such as India. Cryptococcus gattii, formerly known as Cryptococcus neoformans var gattii, is an encapsulated yeast that causes disease in both immunocompetent and immunosupressed individuals. The organism enters via respiratory tract and causes a spectrum of illness ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe illness, inc...

Latin America is the region with the third most AIDS-related cryptococcal meningitis infections globally. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has reduced the number of infections; however, the number of deaths and the case-fatality rate continues to be unacceptable. In this review, we focus on the burden of AIDS-related cryptococcosis in Latin America and discuss potential strategies t...

We present a case of refractory Cryptococcus neoformans meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent woman. Her clinical symptoms did not improve with 6 months of antifungal therapy, and MRI abnormalities, indicating severe meningeal and cerebral inflammation, persisted despite a decreasing cryptococcal antigen titer. The patient continued to deteriorate despite antifungal therapy, and her conditi...

An 83-year-old man with myelodysplastic syndrome was admitted to our hospital due to dyspnea and abnormal shadows on chest X-ray films during corticosteroid therapy for organizing pneumonia. He was diagnosed as having disseminated cryptococcosis with pulmonary lesions after detecting Cryptococcus neoformans. Both bilateral pleural effusion with or without ipsilateral pulmonary lesions and ascit...

We report a case of chronic meningitis due to capsule-deficient Cryptococcus neoformans which could not be diagnosed by routine morphological and immunological cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination. Repeated CSF examination and culture did not disclose the fungal body, and the cryptococcal antigen tests were always negative. Culture of ventricular fluid showed non-encapsulated cultured cells wh...