RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Pulmonary cryptococcosis complicating interstitial lung disease in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus
JF BMJ Case Reports
JO BMJ Case Reports
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e229403
DO 10.1136/bcr-2019-229403
VO 12
IS 8
A1 Rahul Gaiba
A1 Edward O’Neill
A1 Seetha Lakshmi
YR 2019
UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/12/8/e229403.abstract
AB We report a case of primary pulmonary cryptococcosis in a 59-year-old female patient with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus, interstitial lung disease and glaucoma. She presented with a cough, severe fatigue, unintentional weight loss, shortness of breath (increase in home oxygen use from baseline) and pleuritic chest pain of 2 months duration. During these 2 months, her symptoms had worsened despite multiple hospital visits, empirical antibiotics and empirical increase of her steroid dosage. Cytopathology of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid showed yeast cells with narrow-based budding and grew Cryptococcus neoformans on fungal culture. She was treated with oral fluconazole 400 mg/day for 6 months with an improvement in cough, decrease in shortness of breath (return to baseline oxygen use) and resolution of pleuritic chest pain.