Unusual pattern of enhancement in cryptococcal meningitis: in vivo findings with postmortem correlation

J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1996 Nov-Dec;20(6):1023-6. doi: 10.1097/00004728-199611000-00031.

Abstract

Leptomeningeal enhancement on CT and MR imaging studies secondary to cryptococcal meningitis is an uncommon finding. In immunocompromised patients, this meningitis incites only a mild inflammatory reaction and abnormalities are often absent on imaging studies. We recently encountered two patients with cryptococcal meningitis in whom postcontrast MR imaging showed thick enhancing subarachnoid spaces. Both had cryptococcal meningitis at autopsy. In a different patient with cryptococcal meningitis, postmortem MR imaging and pathologic examinations showed that these areas of enhancement correspond to abundant mucoid material secreted by the yeasts.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / diagnosis*
  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / pathology
  • Adult
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / pathology
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • HIV-1*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Meninges / diagnostic imaging*
  • Meninges / pathology*
  • Meningitis, Cryptococcal / diagnosis*
  • Meningitis, Cryptococcal / pathology
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed