Korean Journal of Medical Mycology  2003;8(1):16-20

A Case of Primary Cutaneous Cryptococcosis Misdiagnosel as Skin Tuberculosis.

Yu Jin KIM 1 ; Seong Jun SEO ; Byung In RO

Affiliations

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Keywords

Primary cutaneous cryptococcosis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic yeast infection caused by Cryptococcosis neoformans. The cutaneous manifestations are usually polymorphic and nonspecific. Lesions may appear as subcutaneous swelling, abscesses, tumor-like masses, papules or large ulcers. Therefore, diagnosis of cutaneous cryptococcosis is quite difficult and often delayed. Clinical suspicion is very important in diagnosis. A 47-year-old man presented with a ulcerative nodule on the right side of the neck. Because initial skin biopsy revealed granulomatous lesion, we misdiagnosed his lesion as skin tuberculosis and treated him with anti tuberculosis medication for 6 months. But his symptom was not improved. After second biopsy specimen had showed some spores with narrow neck budding, we confirmed this case as a cryptococcosis and successfully treated with itraconazole (200 mg/day) for 12 weeks.