Purpose of
Review Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the most seriously
opportunistic infections in people living with
HIV . We evaluated clinical and laboratorial features (
minimum inhibitory concentrations for
fluconazole , initial fungal burden in
cerebrospinal fluid ) and
risk factors associated with
in-hospital mortality . Recent Findings There is no good evidence for the use ofminimum inhibitory concentrations for
fluconazole in routine practice for the management of
cryptococcosis patients . Counting
yeast cells at
cerebrospinal fluid can predict positive
culture by not
death . Summary Data from 46
cryptococcal meningitis patients were reviewed, retrospectively.
Patients who presented
yeast cell count greater than 400
yeast cells /µ in their initial
cerebrospinal fluid sample were associated with higher
mortality (p = 0.014); moreover, the
yeast cell count is an easy and cheap assay, with high values possibly associated to poor
prognosis . Additionally, we verified no significant differences between
fluconazole susceptibility profile, molecular type, clinical presentation, cytological analyses,
time to sterilize the
cerebrospinal fluid , agent recovering out of
central nervous system , previous
diagnosis of
cryptococcal meningitis or usage of
fluconazole , and overall
mortality