Clinical factors associated with positive serum cryptococcal antigen—A study of 55 cases of pulmonary cryptococcosis

Abstract

The serum cryptococcal antigen is useful, but false-negative cases also exist. We investigated the clinical factors associated with serum cryptococcal antigen in 55 cases of pulmonary cryptococcosis experienced at our hospital (39 antigen-positive cases and 16 antigen-negative cases). Univariate analysis showed that females, symptomatic cases, cases with underlying disease, cases with infiltrative shadows rather than nodular shadows, cases with multiple nodules rather than a single nodule and cases with large shadows were significantly more likely to reveal a positive serum cryptococcal antigen. In particular, in cases with small nodular shadows, it is considered beneficial to interpret the serum cryptococcal antigen in the context of symptoms and underlying disease.