Timothy McCann, Anar S Patel, Neha Patel D, Deepali B Sharath, Borna Mansouri, Cynthia Contreras
{"title":"Cutaneous cryptococcal infection: Initial manifestation of acquired T-cell immunodeficiency due to malignant thymoma.","authors":"Timothy McCann, Anar S Patel, Neha Patel D, Deepali B Sharath, Borna Mansouri, Cynthia Contreras","doi":"10.18502/CMM.8.2.10334","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and purpose: </strong>Cryptococcosis is a known opportunistic infection. Thymomas are known to cause immune dysregulation. We describe an atypical case of cutaneous cryptococcosis in a patient with acquired T cell immunodeficiency that has been found to be secondary to a type B3 thymoma with progression to carcinoma.</p><p><strong>Case report: </strong>A 63-year-old male presented with a chronic skin lesion confirmed as <i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i> on biopsy and an incidental mediastinal mass found during infectious work-up for the notable cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4)+ lymphopenia. This led to the diagnosis of a type B3 thymoma requiring resection. The cryptococcal lesion was treated successfully with azole therapy.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong><i>C. neoformans</i> is an opportunistic infection rarely associated with isolated T cell immunodeficiency due to thymomas. A multidisciplinary approach and understanding of the pathogenicity of <i>cryptococcus</i> and the immunological effect of thymic dysfunction are paramount to diagnosis and treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":10863,"journal":{"name":"Current Medical Mycology","volume":"8 2","pages":"55-58"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9825796/pdf/","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current Medical Mycology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.18502/CMM.8.2.10334","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Background and purpose: Cryptococcosis is a known opportunistic infection. Thymomas are known to cause immune dysregulation. We describe an atypical case of cutaneous cryptococcosis in a patient with acquired T cell immunodeficiency that has been found to be secondary to a type B3 thymoma with progression to carcinoma.
Case report: A 63-year-old male presented with a chronic skin lesion confirmed as Cryptococcus neoformans on biopsy and an incidental mediastinal mass found during infectious work-up for the notable cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4)+ lymphopenia. This led to the diagnosis of a type B3 thymoma requiring resection. The cryptococcal lesion was treated successfully with azole therapy.
Conclusion: C. neoformans is an opportunistic infection rarely associated with isolated T cell immunodeficiency due to thymomas. A multidisciplinary approach and understanding of the pathogenicity of cryptococcus and the immunological effect of thymic dysfunction are paramount to diagnosis and treatment.