title: Fine-needle aspiration diagnosis of primary cutaneous cryptococcosis in an immunocompetent patient: a case report.
abstract: We report a case of a primary cutaneous cryptococcosis (PCC) in immunocompetent man diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and confirmed by special stains and culture study. The patient presented with a 2-wk history of two separate skin nodules over the forehead and the left lumbar region. FNA smears revealed a necrotizing suppurative granulomatous inflammation with numerous yeasts of Cryptococcus surrounded by clear halos, which were present within multinucleated giant cells and in the intercellular spaces. This was confirmed subsequently by special stains and a culture of the aspirated material. This case report reemphasizes the role of FNA as a useful modality in the early diagnosis of cutaneous cryptococcosis, especially in clinically unsuspected cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, King Fahad Hospital-Hofuf, P.O. Box 60288, Al-Hassa 31982, Saudi Arabia. ymarz@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Yusef M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Al-Marzooq
authors.forename: Rajan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chopra
authors.forename: Mohammad I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Al-Mommatten
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Younis
authors.forename: Abdulrahman S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Mulhim
authors.forename: Hassa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Hussini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D003454:Cryptococcus / Q000166:cytology*; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*