Cryptococcus: A Rare Cause of Parotid Abscess in Liver Cirrhosis

Abstract

A 61-year-old man with decompensated liver cirrhosis presented with a parotid mass. Fine-needle aspiration of the parotid gland revealed Cryptococcus neoformans. Lumbar puncture confirmed cryptococcal meningitis. Multiple splenic lesions with radiographic features consistent with cryptococcal splenic abscesses were also seen. Despite antifungal therapy, the patient died 17 days after infection was confirmed. This is the first report of a cryptococcal parotid abscess in a patient with liver cirrhosis.

Imaging of cryptococcus neoformans infection in breasts: A case report

“…The common initial sites of Cryptococcal infection include the lung and the brain, which primarily suggests pathogenesis through the respiratory tract. However, various infection sites reported on the skin, lung, parotid, muscle, breast, or mediastinal abscess in the literature favors the hypothesis of hematogenous or lymphatic dissemination [ 5 , 11 , 12 ]. In the present reported patient, the culture of blood, CSF, and breast aspiration were positive, which proved hematogenous spreading and might explain why the breast infection was bilateral, and diffuse.…”