TITLE:
Pulmonary cryptococcosis in an immunocompetent patient—A case report
AUTHORS:
Fernando Morbeck, Rafael Franco, Sergio Furlan, Marcos Duarte
KEYWORDS:
Cryptococcosis; Pulmonary; Immunocompetent; Fungal; Lung Disease
JOURNAL NAME:
Case Reports in Clinical Medicine,
Vol.2 No.9,
December
9,
2013
ABSTRACT: Cryptococcosis is an
infection caused by fungi that belong to the genus Cryptococcus. There are several species of Cryptococcus, but two species—Cryptococcus
neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii—cause
nearly all cryptococcal infections in humans. Cryptococcosis is one of the most
common fungal infections in Brazil and becomes even more important after the onset
of the AIDS epidemic. The lung is the main gateway, and also is the most common
site, with diverse clinical manifestations ranging from an asymptomatic to
severe pneumonia. When symptommatic, most patients present with fever and cough
with expectoration or hemoptysis. The most common radiological findings in immunocompetent patients are located images of masses and nodules, while immunosuppression shows interstitial infiltrates and diffuses
interstitial opacity. This is a case report of a patient in the third decade of
life with breathing-dependent pain at the base of the left hemithorax, who has
radiological examination of a mass in the left lung base in contact with the
pleura mimicking malignant lung. Lobectomy was performed, as well as the
pathological diagnosis of cryptococcosis.