PRIMARY CUTANEOUS CRYPTOCOCCOSIS AND CRYPTOCOCCUS-NEOFORMANS SEROTYPE-D

We report a healthy, 73-year-old Japanese woman who presented with pri mary cryptococcosis on the skin of both cheeks. She had initially deve loped an erythematous, partly ulcerated lesion on the right cheek 2 we eks earlier following an injury. There was no regional lymphadenopathy , and chest X-rays were normal. Histopathological findings showed gran ulomatous cell infiltration. Periodic acid Schiff staining revealed sp ores that were identified by the indirect immunoperoxidase staining me thod as Cryptococcus neoformans. The isolate was identified as C. neof ormans var. neoformans serotype D. The skin lesions healed in 1 month without antifungal therapy. A literature review indicates that this se rotype tends to produce cutaneous lesions without systemic involvement .