Abstract
Two cases with pulmonary cryptococcosis confirmed using aspiration cytology and biopsy are reported. Case 1, a 75 year-old woman, was incidentally found to have a nodular abnormal shadow on a chest X-P during treatment of idiopathic systemic edema. Lung aspiration cytology and biopsy with endoscopic bronchofiberscopy showed yeast like cells, some of which were laden with multinucleated macrophages. The nodular shadow diminished with medication. Case 2, a 46 year-old female, was found to have a cavitary lesion on a chest X-P during occupational mass screening. Transcutaneous aspiration cytology and biopsy of the lung demonstrated yeast like cells with a clear zone of variable width, representing the space occupied by a mucoid capsule positive for periodic acid-Schiff reaction. In the surgically resected lung, a solitary fibrocaseous granuloma was located, and fragmented and unevenly stained cryptococci were found within the central caseous material. While it was a clinical problem to differentiate both of these cases from pulmonary carcinomas, aspiration cytology and biopsy were very useful in making the histopathologic diagnosis of cryptococcosis.
