Five Cases of Pulmonary Cryptococcosis in Immunocompetent Patients

Cryptococcal infections occur frequently in patients with cell-mediated immune deficiency, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome, organ transplants, hematologic malignancy patients and immunocompromised patients who receiving cancer chemotherapy or corticosteroid therapy. In these conditions, cryptococcosis can cause serious infections requiring systemic antifungal therapy such as meningoencephalitis and sepsis. However, pulmonary cryptococcosis in immunocompetent hosts may have self-limited course and improve without treatment. We experienced various pulmonary manifestations of pulmonary cryptococcosis in five immunocompetent patients. We diagnosed three cases of isolated pulmonary cryptococcosis and two cases of disseminated cryptococcosis involving lungs. All cases were treated with intravenous injection of amphotericin B during hostpital care, and maintained with oral fluconazole after discharge. During the follow-up, clinical symptoms and radiologic features were markedly improved.