Cryptococcal infections, though rare, must be considered in all immunocompromised patients. Patients with HIV/AIDS on antiretrovirals may have a treatment course complicated by immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. Here we present a case of a 38-year-old woman with HIV/AIDS with knee pain who only began to experience severe pain after induction of antiretroviral therapy. She was found to have cryptococcal osteomyelitis without dissemination to the central nervous system, an unusual presentation for immunocompromised patients. She was treated with oral fluconazole with a resolution of symptoms. This case report suggests conservative management of isolated cryptococcal infection with fluconazole, regardless of immune status.
Keywords: Cryptococcus; HIV/AIDS; case report; fluconazole; immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.
Conservative treatment of isolated cryptococcus infection in a patient with a weakened immune system Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungus found in the soil which care rarely infect humans, especially those who have a weakened immune system, like those with HIV infection. The treatment of HIV in people with ‘secondary infections’, like cryptococcal infections, may cause patients to get worse before they get better as the immune system starts to function and attack the secondary infection. In this case report, we look at a patient who had untreated HIV who only began to develop symptoms of a secondary cryptococcal infection once treatment for HIV was started. However, because the cryptococcal infection was only in her bone and not throughout her body and nervous system, we were able to treat her with a conservative, oral regimen. In patients with severe cryptococcal infection or with infection of their nervous system, they often need to be treated with medications that can cause a lot of unwanted side effects. The key takeaway from this article is that conservative treatment of Cryptococcus may be effective, even in people with weakened immune systems, as long as the cryptococcal infection is isolated.
© The Author(s), 2024.