An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report

Introduction: Meningitis is a serious and potentially life-threatening infection of the central nervous system. Cryptococcus neoformans is a rare fungal cause of meningitis that commonly presents with atypical symptoms. Although this infection is most common in immunocompromised patients, it also oc...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Kelly Correa, Scott Craver, Amar Sandhu
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	eScholarship Publishing, University of California 2021
Materias:	Medical emergencies. Critical care. Intensive care. First aid RC86-88.9
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/02e8ec56d92849aea4d6186911088409
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:02e8ec56d92849aea4d6186911088409
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:02e8ec56d92849aea4d61869110884092021-11-23T20:02:52ZAn Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report2474-252X10.5811/cpcem.2021.8.53368https://doaj.org/article/02e8ec56d92849aea4d61869110884092021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/8xb9v5d5https://doaj.org/toc/2474-252XIntroduction: Meningitis is a serious and potentially life-threatening infection of the central nervous system. Cryptococcus neoformans is a rare fungal cause of meningitis that commonly presents with atypical symptoms. Although this infection is most common in immunocompromised patients, it also occurs in immunocompetent patients. This case report describes an atypical presentation of cryptococcal meningitis in a seemingly immunocompetent patient. Case Report: A 40-year-old immunocompetent patient with no significant past medical history had visited the emergency department (ED) five times within a span of 30 days reporting dental pain and headache. Throughout each of the visits, no clear symptoms signaling the need for a meningitis workup were observed, as the patient had been afebrile, displayed no nuchal rigidity, and his presenting symptoms subsided within the ED after treatment. A lumbar puncture was performed after emergency medical services brought the patient in for his sixth ED visit, initially for stroke-like symptoms and altered mental status. Spinal fluid was indicative of cryptococcal meningitis. Conclusion: This case highlights the challenge of identifying cryptococcal meningitis in the ED, particularly in immunocompetent patients who do not display classic meningitis symptoms. It also highlights the importance of keeping a broad differential and carefully ruling out diagnoses when patients return to the ED multiple times for the same complaint.Kelly CorreaScott CraverAmar SandhueScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaarticleMedical emergencies. Critical care. Intensive care. First aidRC86-88.9ENClinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine, Vol 5, Iss 4 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medical emergencies. Critical care. Intensive care. First aid RC86-88.9
spellingShingle	Medical emergencies. Critical care. Intensive care. First aid RC86-88.9 Kelly Correa Scott Craver Amar Sandhu An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report
description	Introduction: Meningitis is a serious and potentially life-threatening infection of the central nervous system. Cryptococcus neoformans is a rare fungal cause of meningitis that commonly presents with atypical symptoms. Although this infection is most common in immunocompromised patients, it also occurs in immunocompetent patients. This case report describes an atypical presentation of cryptococcal meningitis in a seemingly immunocompetent patient. Case Report: A 40-year-old immunocompetent patient with no significant past medical history had visited the emergency department (ED) five times within a span of 30 days reporting dental pain and headache. Throughout each of the visits, no clear symptoms signaling the need for a meningitis workup were observed, as the patient had been afebrile, displayed no nuchal rigidity, and his presenting symptoms subsided within the ED after treatment. A lumbar puncture was performed after emergency medical services brought the patient in for his sixth ED visit, initially for stroke-like symptoms and altered mental status. Spinal fluid was indicative of cryptococcal meningitis. Conclusion: This case highlights the challenge of identifying cryptococcal meningitis in the ED, particularly in immunocompetent patients who do not display classic meningitis symptoms. It also highlights the importance of keeping a broad differential and carefully ruling out diagnoses when patients return to the ED multiple times for the same complaint.
format	article
author	Kelly Correa Scott Craver Amar Sandhu
author_facet	Kelly Correa Scott Craver Amar Sandhu
author_sort	Kelly Correa
title	An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report
title_short	An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report
title_full	An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report
title_fullStr	An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report
title_full_unstemmed	An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report
title_sort	uncommon presentation of cryptococcal meningitis in an immunocompetent patient: a case report
publisher	eScholarship Publishing, University of California
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/02e8ec56d92849aea4d6186911088409
work_keys_str_mv	AT kellycorrea anuncommonpresentationofcryptococcalmeningitisinanimmunocompetentpatientacasereport AT scottcraver anuncommonpresentationofcryptococcalmeningitisinanimmunocompetentpatientacasereport AT amarsandhu anuncommonpresentationofcryptococcalmeningitisinanimmunocompetentpatientacasereport AT kellycorrea uncommonpresentationofcryptococcalmeningitisinanimmunocompetentpatientacasereport AT scottcraver uncommonpresentationofcryptococcalmeningitisinanimmunocompetentpatientacasereport AT amarsandhu uncommonpresentationofcryptococcalmeningitisinanimmunocompetentpatientacasereport
_version_	1718416073149120512

An Uncommon Presentation of Cryptococcal Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report

Ejemplares similares