Extensive Pulmonary Cryptococcosis as a Presentation in an Immunocompetent Young Male: A Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Finding

Prajwal Chauhan; Vijay Singh; Sumeet Kumar De; Mansi Gupta; Alok Nath; Manish Ora

doi:10.4103/ijnm.ijnm_47_23

Extensive Pulmonary Cryptococcosis as a Presentation in an Immunocompetent Young Male: A Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Finding

Indian J Nucl Med. 2023 Oct-Dec;38(4):394-395. doi: 10.4103/ijnm.ijnm_47_23. Epub 2023 Dec 20.

Authors

Prajwal Chauhan¹, Vijay Singh¹, Sumeet Kumar De², Mansi Gupta², Alok Nath², Manish Ora¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine, SGPGIMS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
² Department of Pulmonary Medicine, SGPGIMS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Abstract

A 42-year-old male presented with a dry cough, breathlessness, and fever. He underwent a computed tomography that revealed large consolidation in the right lung. Biopsy revealed Cryptococcus neoformans. He was on antifungal for 4 months with no clinicoradiological improvement. ¹⁸F- fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) showed consolidations in the right lung with multiple lung nodules. ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT ascertains the diagnosis of residual fungal infection and rules out extrapulmonary involvement.

Keywords: CD4 lymphocytopenia; fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography; fungal infections; pulmonary cryptococcosis.