Cryptococcal skeletal infections: case report and review. Rev. Infect. Dis. 12, 181–190. doi: 10.1093/clinids/12.2.181

Cryptococcus neoformans is an uncommon but treatable cause of osteomyelitis that af-fects both normal and immunocompromised hosts. When not considered as a diagnostic possibility, C neoformans infection may result in increased morbidity. The spectrum of disease at presentation extends from an asymptomatic patient with an osteolytic lesion on radiograph to a patient with signs and symptoms of systemic disease. Once diagnosis has been established (often by closed aspiration), optimal therapy appears to involve a combination of amphotericin B, flucytosine, and surgical debridement. Cryptococcal skeletal infections, while rare, can lead to significant morbidity and mortality if left un-treated. Because the historical and radiologic find-ings resemble a variety of infectious and neoplastic disorders [1], Cryptococcus neojormans skeletal in-fections are rarely diagnosed at the time of presen-tation [2]. It is clear from cases reported before the advent of effective antifungal therapy that, whil