Experimental ocular cryptococcosis. Preliminary studies in cats and mice.

Ocular cryptococcosis was produced in cats by the intracarotid injection of Cryptococcus neoformans. Infected eyes developed a progressive, multifocal chorioretinitis which was comparable to that found in the naturally occurring feline disease. The severity of the ocular disease, the development of infection in the fellow eye, and the degree of systemic involvement were shown to be related to the number of organisms inoculated. Mice infected intracerebrally with the same organism developed optic nerve meningitis. The pathogenesis of the ocular lesions thus produced is discussed.