title: Voriconazole: a novel treatment option for cryptococcal meningitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a relatively common opportunistic infection in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and can also occur in patients with no underlying disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, diagnosis and misdiagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CM at a tertiary care hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective study of 55 patients at a tertiary care hospital from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2013. All the patients had a definite diagnosis based on etiology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 55 patients had a positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) India ink staining result. The predominant change observed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was leptomeningeal liner enhancement, which is also called 'lumbriciform-enhancing.' Only 15 patients were first diagnosed with CM, indicating a misdiagnosis rate of 72.7%. At the follow-up end point, 8 patients were cured, 33 had improved, and 14 had died. The overall response rate was 74.5%. The voriconazole group had a response rate of 100%, which was significantly higher than the other two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most CM patients in China were previously healthy without any potential risk factors. CM was easily misdiagnosed due to the lack of specificity of early clinical symptoms. Repeated CSF India ink staining should be performed to identify the pathogen. Voriconazole could be administered to the patients with CM, especially to patients who had a treatment failure with amphotericin B alone or accompanied by fluconazole.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Jia-Tang
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Xiao-Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Cheng-Lin
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Xu-Sheng
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Sheng-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D000328:Adult; D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002244:Carbon; D002681:China; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D016919:Meningitis, Cryptococcal / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D013997:Time Factors; D065819:Voriconazole / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; C028433:chinese ink; D002244:Carbon; D000666:Amphotericin B; D015725:Fluconazole; D065819:Voriconazole
keywords: CSF India ink staining; Cryptococcal meningitis; antifungal drug; fluconazole; voriconazole