A Case of Cryptococcal Lymphadenitis in HIV: A Chance Diagnosis by Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology

A 15 years old boy was presented with inguinal lymphadenopathy. The fine needle aspiration of lymph node revealed budding yeast cells and Cryptococcus neoformans was isolated on culture of the aspirate. On further investigations, patient was found to be Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive with low CD4 count of 207cells/mu l. Patient showed good response with antifungal and antiretroviral treatment. Cryptococcosis is the most common, life threatening, opportunistic, fungal disease in HIV infected individuals. Lung, meninges and skin involvement have been described. Lymph node involvement in cryptococcosis is considered to be rare. Therefore a prompt diagnosis is mandatory for early initiation of specific treatment. We report here a case of cryptococcosis presenting as inguinal lymphadenopathy and diagnosed on fine needle aspiration cytology.