Ocular cryptococcosis - experimental and clinical observations

During the previous studies, we could demonstrate that there are strains of Cryptococcus neoformans which after intraperitoneal inoculation, are capble of surviving only in the brain of mice without causing any apparent clinical symptom; only in about 4% of the animals the fatal involvement of the CNS occurred. The present investigations suggest that the selective involvement of eye, i.e., formation of intraocular cryptococcoma, with subsequent blindness is also possible under similar experimental conditions. It was observed that a short-lived uremia caused by intramuscular injection of 0.2 ml glycerine could enhance the rate of the selective involvement of the CNS including the eye. The uremia was controlled by the auxanographic method using STAIB's technique of serum-residual-nitrogen-auxanogram and employing the strain used for infecting the mice. These animal experiments are discussed in connection with a clinical case of intra-ocular cryptococcosis in which the only known basic disease was uremia of unknown orgin. The spontaneously healing cryptococcosis detected in this case after the treatment of uremia, has been discussed. Cases of ocular cryptococcosis described in the world literature have been also briefly discussed inconnection with our results. These microbiological observations will be supplemented by the histopathological findings to be published separately.