Cryptococcosis presenting as anterior neck swelling in an immunocompetent man: a case report.

BACKGROUND

Cryptococcosis is caused by the encapsulated opportunistic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. An immunocompromised host is more susceptible to the survival and dissemination of this yeast, which can occur to almost all organs of the body, especially the central nervous system, lungs, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, retina, and reticuloendothelial system. However, there are few reports of Cryptococcus causing infections ir immunocompetent hosts.

CASE: A 70-year-old immunocompe tent man presented with swelling in the anterior neck region, which was diagnosed as cryptococcosis by fine needle aspiration cytology.

CONCLUSION

Fine needle aspiration cytology plays a rapid, useful and important role in the diagnosis of cryptococcosis infection, especially in clinically unsuspected cases, and helps in timely therapeutic intervention.