title: Central nervous system cryptococcoma in a cat.
abstract: This report describes the gross, histopathological, immunohistochemical and electron microscopic findings in a 4-year-old cat with systemic Cryptococcus neoformans infection. A 1-cm diameter pontine mass, pinpoint lesions in the cerebellum and in the right kidney were the main macroscopic findings. A presumptive diagnosis of cerebral neoplasia with metastasis was formulated. Light microscopy revealed a huge number of yeasts surrounded by a pyogranulomatous inflammatory reaction in the cerebral parenchyma and, to a lesser extent, in the kidney, while the meninges were not involved. The positive mucicarmine stain that coloured the capsule of the yeasts was indicative of cryptococcal infection. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of C. neoformans var. grubii (C. neoformans serotype A). Electron microscopy revealed yeasts with a massive fibrillar capsule and lamellar cell wall free in the cerebral tissue and within macrophages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Animal Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. lmandrioli@vet.unibo.it
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mandrioli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bettini
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Marcato
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benazzi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Della Salda
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Krockenberger
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001259:Ataxia / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary; D001344:Autopsy / Q000662:veterinary; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D016919:Meningitis, Cryptococcal / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013687:Telencephalon / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure