CRYPTOCOCCOSIS: CLINICAL FEATURES AND DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS

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Abstract
In 9 cases of cryptococcosis, 6 of which are reported in detail, lungs, bones and lymph nodes were common sites of infection. Most of the patients died of meningo-enceph-alitis. However, symptoms referable to the lesions elsewhere in the body often preceded the symptoms caused by the lesions of the central nervous system. Chronic cough was an initial symptom in several of the cases and in these, roentgenograms of the thorax revealed evidence of an inflammatory process in the pulmonary parenchyma. In 2 of the 9 cases there was a history of recent extraction of teeth. The cryptococcal infection was associated with Hodgkin''s disease in one case and possibly in a second one. The meningo-encephalitis produced by the organism presented a variable clinical picture. To date there does not appear to be any satisfactory treatment for disseminated cryptococcosis. Surgical excision of a localized lesion seemed to eradicate the infection in one of the cases.