[Mycoses of the central nervous system. Anatomopathological data of cryptococcosis and cerebral aspergillosis].

The pathological findings of the cerebral involvement in deep-seated fungal infections in routine autopsy is reported. In 42 cases of mycotic infections studied among 3.966 autopsies, there were 8 cases of cryptococcosis and 2 of aspergillosis of the brain, showing a very low frequency of central nervous system involvement, occurring in a proportion of 1:400 autopsies. The histopathological findings of the brain in cases of cryptococcosis showed the spectrum of inflammatory reactions already described, although most of the cases presented with mild to severe meningitis with large number of giant cells, and slight degree of involvement of the nervous tissue. The cases of aspergillosis showed a pattern of severe necrotizing meningo-encephalitis with large number of fungi. The paper points out the role of the histological examination in the identification of the fungi in tissues and their morphologic reactions.