Objective:To improve the level of clinical diagnosis and treatment by analyzing the clinical features and relevant factors of cryptococcosis neoformans in patients with connective tissue disease(CTD).Methods:Twelve patients with CTD and cryptococcosis neoformans infection in Peking University People's Hospital from January 2010 to April 2021 were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical and laboratory data, treatment and outcome were collected and analyzed. Independent sample t-test or Rank-sum test was used. Results:The age of the patients ranged from 18 to 85 years old(mean 51 years old), all of whom were female. None of them were exposed to pigeons and their feces. Of the 12 patients, 3 patients suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, 7 patients had systemic lupus erythematosus, 1 patient was diagnosed with primary Sj?gren 's syndrome, and 1 patient was diagnosed as undifferentiated connective tissue disease. Four cases were cryptococcal meningitis, 8 were pulmonary cryptococcosis. None of the 12 patients had immunodeficiency virus infection. All 12 patients were given glucocorticoid alone or combined with immunosuppressive or biological agents. All were detected with positive cryptococcus neoformans antigen in serum; 6 got lumbar puncture, 2 cases were positive for ink stain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture were positive in 2, in whom 3 had high intracranial pressure, in which the highest one was more than 600 mmH 2O (1 mmH 2O=0.009 8 kPa); 7 cases underwent lung biopsy. Among these patients, all were positive for cryptococcosis neoformans in lung tissue pathological examination; 6 had the number of peripheral lymphocytes less than 1.0×10 9/L, and 2 were detected for the number of CD4 + T cell, which was significantly decreased. As for the initial anti-fungal drug therapy, all cases were treated with fluconazole intravenously; 2 were treated with combined amphotericin, 1 was treated with combined fluorocytosine, 1 was treated with amphotericin and fluorocytosine. Then oral flu-conazole was prescribed as sequential therapy. The whole treatmentcourse ranged from 4 to 21 months. Eleven patients were cured, and 1 was relieved. Conclusion:Patients with connective tissue disease complicated with cryptococcus neoformans infection have atypical clinical symptoms. Treatment with immunosuppressive drugs and glucocorticoids are related causes. Patients with decreased peripheral blood lymphocytes, especially CD4 + T cell, are more susceptible to infection. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are the key to improve the prognosis and cure of the disease.

Objective:To investigate the correlation factors of complete clinical response in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies(IIMs)patients receiving conventional treatment.Methods:Patients diagnosed with IIMs hospitalized in Peking University People's Hospital from January 2000 to June 2023 were in-cluded.The correlation factors of complete clinical response to conventional treatment were identified by analyzing the clinical characteristics,laboratory features,peripheral blood lymphocytes,immunological indicators,and therapeutic drugs.Results:Among the 635 patients included,518 patients finished the follow-up,with an average time of 36.8 months.The total complete clinical response rate of IIMs was 50.0％(259/518).The complete clinical response rate of dermatomyositis(DM),anti-synthetase syn-drome(ASS)and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy(IMNM)were 53.5％,48.9％and 39.0％,respectively.Fever(P=0.002)and rapid progressive interstitial lung disease(RP-ILD)(P=0.014)were observed much more frequently in non-complete clinical response group than in complete clinical re-sponse group.The aspartate transaminase(AST),lactate dehydrogenase(LDH),D-dimer,erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR),C-reaction protein(CRP)and serum ferritin were significantly higher in non-complete clinical response group as compared with complete clinical response group.As for the treat-ment,the percentage of glucocorticoid received and intravenous immunoglobin(IVIG)were significantly higher in non-complete clinical response group than in complete clinical response group.Risk factor analysis showed that IMNM subtype(P=0.007),interstitial lung disease(ILD)(P=0.001),eleva-ted AST(P=0.012),elevated serum ferritin(P=0.016)and decreased count of CD4+T cells in peripheral blood(P=0.004)might be the risk factors for IIMs non-complete clinical response.Conclu-sion:The total complete clinical response rate of IIMs is low,especially for IMNM subtype.More effec-tive intervention should be administered to patients with ILD,elevated AST,elevated serum ferritin or decreased count of CD4+T cells at disease onset.