An asymptomatic case of pulmonary cryptococcosis with endobronchial polypoid lesions and bilateral infiltrative shadow

A case of pulmonary cryptococcosis with focal endobronchial polypoid lesions is described. A 64-year-old woman consulted our hospital for further evaluation of an abnormal shadow on a chest radiograph. She had been prescribed corticosteroid for rheumatoid arthritis. Chest radiographs revealed an infiltrative shadow in the right lower and left middle and lower lung fields, and chest computed tomography (CT) revealed bilateral airspace consolidations and multiple nodules. A bronchoscopic finding revealed white polypoid lesions at the orifice of the posterior basal bronchus in the left lower lobe. Histopathological examination of transbronchial biopsy specimens demonstrated cryptococcal organisms. After fluconazole therapy for 4 months, the infiltrate had decreased in size and the bronchial polypoid lesions had disappeared.