Cryptococcus gattii endogenous chorioretinitis

Keirnan L Willett; Lauren A Dalvin; Bobbi S Pritt; Madiha Fida; Mary J Kasten; Timothy W Olsen

doi:10.1016/j.ajoc.2022.101283

Cryptococcus gattii endogenous chorioretinitis

Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep. 2022 Jan 20:25:101283. doi: 10.1016/j.ajoc.2022.101283. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Authors

Keirnan L Willett¹, Lauren A Dalvin¹, Bobbi S Pritt², Madiha Fida², Mary J Kasten³, Timothy W Olsen¹

Affiliations

¹ Mayo Clinic, Department of Ophthalmology, Rochester, MN, USA.
² Mayo Clinic, Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Rochester, MN, USA.
³ Mayo Clinic, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: To present a case of subretinal abscess associated with pneumonia and meningitis caused by Cryptococcus gattii in an immunocompetent host.

Observations: A 37-year-old man presented with sub-acute painless unilateral vision loss and a white submacular elevation. Systemic evaluation revealed a lung lesion and cerebrospinal fluid evidence of Cryptococcus gattii infection.

Conclusions and importance: While Crypococcus neoformans has been well described as a cause of chorioretinitis in immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts, this report demonstrates that Cryptocuccus gattii is a related uncommon pathogen to be considered in similar presentations. Submacular surgical debridement may be challenging and OCT imaging may be helpful to detect full-thickness retinal necrosis.

Keywords: Chorioretinitis; Cryptococcus.

Publication types

Case Reports