PRIMARY INTESTINAL CRYPTOCOCCOSIS MIMICKING ADENOMATOUS POLYP IN AN HIV-NEGATIVE PATIENT

Abstract

Primary cryptococcal infection is thought to arise in the lungs, whereas secondary lesions may be found anywhere in the body. Because intestinal involvement is rare, especially in nonimmunocompromised patients, little is known about this localization. Nevertheless, the intestinal tract has long been suggested a possible portal of entry of Cryptococcus neoformans, although the hypothesis has never been sufficiently documented. We report an isolated cryptococcosis of the sigmoid colon mimicking an adenomatous polyp. The lesion has an endoscopic interest, being the first of its kind reported in the literature, and a more important pathogenic interest, as it highlights a further pathway of cryptococcal infection, one of major importance in immunocompromised patients.