title: Pulmonary cryptococcosis in childhood systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren syndrome overlap: a rare opportunistic infection.
abstract: Meningitis is the main manifestation of cryptococcosis in adult systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, and other organs and systems, such as the lungs, are rarely affected in this fungal infection. To our knowledge, no case of pulmonary cryptococcosis has been described in the pediatric lupus population. Therefore, we report herein one patient with childhood SLE (C-SLE) and Sjögren's syndrome overlap that presented encapsulated Cryptococcus yeast cells in lung tissue. A 14-year-old girl was diagnosed with C-SLE. At the age of 16 years and 5 months, she presented with fever, cough and dyspnea, without headache, vomiting, and also without signs of meningeal irritation or other clinical manifestations. She was being treated with mycophenolate mofetil, hydroxychloroquine and prednisone. Chest radiography and chest computer tomography showed a single nodule in the left posterior apex and three nodular lesions in the left hemithorax respectively. Bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial biopsy were normal and without isolation of bacteria or fungi. Voriconazole was empirically introduced for 21 days. Fifteen days after the first biopsy, she underwent open thoracotomy with surgical left lung biopsy and was diagnosed with pulmonary cryptococcosis. Voriconazole was replaced with oral fluconazole and this antifungal therapy was maintained with improvement of clinical manifestations and without marked alteration of radiological images. In conclusion, we report the first case of pulmonary cryptococcosis in Sjögren's and C-SLE patient with a satisfactory clinical response to antifungal therapy. Fungal infections should be excluded in the presence of lung nodules and etiological identification is required for proper treatment.
authors.affiliation: 1Pediatric Rheumatology Unit, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: V L S
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Viola
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Durigon
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Aikawa
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Artur Silva
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001706:Biopsy; D018893:Bronchoalveolar Lavage; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents
keywords: Cryptococcosis; Sjögren syndrome; childhood-systemic lupus erythematosus; infection; overlap; pulmonary