Korean J Infect Dis.  2001 Aug;33(4):298-301.

A Case of Cryptococcal Spondylitis Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

• Ko YH
• Lim DJ
• Lee SS
• Cho YK
• Lee DG
• Choi JH
• Kim YJ
• Min CK
• Kim DW
• Park JM
• Kim CC
• Shin WS

Abstract

Skeletal cryptococcosis is an uncommon infection. Cryptococcus is a common cause of meningitis and infects 7~10% of patients with AIDS. As well as AIDS, the infection may be seen in association with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis and diabetes, also in patients on steroid medication. But there is no case report of skeletal cryptococcosis following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. A 40-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of low back pain. She had chronic myelogenous leukemia for 2 years and underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation 8 months ago. She have been treated with steroid and cyclosporine orally because of chronic graft versus host disease. On examination she was afebrile and had posterior lower lumbar tenderness. But, she had no reduced strength of low extremities. Open biopsy was underwent. Histology demonstrated budding, round-to-oval, refractile yeast-like organisms within debris. The results of a lumbar puncture were unremarkable and cerebrospinal fluid culture failed to grow bacteria and yeast. The patient was treated with amphotericin B (1 gram) and AmBisome (2.8 gram) over 6 weeks. Three months after cessation of therapy, the patient was doing well.

Keyword

Cryptococcus; Spondylitis; Bone Marrow Transplantation

MeSH Terms

Adult
Amphotericin B
Bacteria
Biopsy
Bone Marrow Transplantation
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Cryptococcosis
Cryptococcus
Cyclosporine
Extremities
Female
Graft vs Host Disease
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation*
Hematopoietic Stem Cells*
Hodgkin Disease
Humans
Leukemia
Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive
Low Back Pain
Meningitis
Sarcoidosis
Spinal Puncture
Spondylitis*
Tuberculosis
Yeasts
Amphotericin B
Cyclosporine