RESUMO
A 54-year-old previously healthy man presented with paraplegia. CT scan showed a lytic lesion of the sixth dorsal vertebra and cord compression suggesting malignant metastasis. Open biopsy of the vertebra showed a granulomatous lesion with Cryptococcus spores. Culture for fungus confirmed an A serotype Cryptococcus neoformans. HIV and HTLV-1 antibody tests were negative. Surgical treatment combined with oral fluconazole was without clinical or CT scan resolution within a follow-up of three months. The paper underlines the role of the pathologist in the diagnosis of mycotic diseases (AU)
Assuntos
Relatos de Casos , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Criptococose/diagnóstico , Criptococose/terapia , Osteólise/etiologia , Paraplegia/etiologia , Vértebras LombaresRESUMO
Two cases of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome are reported from Trinidad. Both patients were male homosexuals who had opportunistic infections. One had disseminated infection with cryptococcus neoformans and the other with toxoplasma gondii. This is the first report of the syndrome from the Commonwealth Caribbean (AU)
Assuntos
Adulto , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Síndrome de Imunodeficiência Adquirida/complicações , Criptococose/etiologia , Toxoplasmose/etiologia , Homossexualidade , Linfadenite/etiologia , Trinidad e TobagoRESUMO
Crptococcosis with meningitis is reported in seven patients, six from Jamaica and one from Belize. All seven had headache, six had fever and five had confusion/coma. Despite biochemical findings of meningitis in the cerebrospinal fluid of five patients, Cryptococcosis was diagnosed antemortem in only three. Two patients treated with oral flucytosine survived. Awareness that Cryptococcosis occurs in the West Indies may assist in early diagnosis which is crucial to successful treatment (AU)
