Cryptococcosis in patients with hematological diseases: a 14-year retrospective clinical analysis in a Chinese tertiary hospital

Table 5 Comparison of manifestations, laboratory finding, clinical response of antifungal treatment, outcomes between cryptococcal meningitis patients with hematological malignancies and non-malignancies

Variables	CM Patients with hematological malignancies (%) (N = 6)	CM Patients with hematological non-malignancies (%) (N = 20)	P value
Symptoms
Fever	5 (83.3)	19 (95.0)	0.415
Headache	6 (100.0)	18 (90.0)	1.000
Vomitting	0 (0.0)	11 (55.0)	0.024
Radiology of brain^a
Multisite lesions, Yes/No	5/1	10/8	0.351
Parenchyma damage, Yes/No	5/1	13/5	1.000
Baseline CSF parameters
Opening Pressure > 250mmH₂O, Yes/No^b	3/2	10/6	1.000
WBC, cells/mm^3c	31.5 (20, 40)	34.5 (1, 533)	0.802
Protein, g/L^d	0.74 (0.184, 1.015)	0.74 (0.277, 2.601)	0.773
Glucose <1.1 mmol/L, Yes/No^e	4/1	13/4	1.000
Indian ink smear, +/−^f	6/0	17/2	1.000
Culture for Cryptococcus, +/−^g	3/1	14/2	0.509
CrAg titer >1:1280, Yes/No^h	1/5	5/9	0.613
Baseline serum CrAg titer >1:1280, Yes/Noⁱ	4/2	5/8	0.350
Treatment
AmB-based therapy	4 (66.7)	14 (70.0)	1.000
Success	3 (50.0)	8 (40.0)	1.000
Outcome
2-week mortality	0 (0.0)	3 (15.0)	1.000
10-week mortality^j	1 (16.7)	4 (21.1)	1.000

^aImage findings of the brain was not documented in 2 patients with hematological non-malignancies
^bCSF opening pressure was not documented in 1 patient with hematological malignancies and 4 with non-malignancies
^cCSF WBC was not documented in 2 patient with hematological malignancies and 4 with non-malignancies
^dCSF protein was not documented in 1 patient with hematological malignancies and 3 with non-malignancies
^eCSF glucose was not documented in 1 patient with hematological malignancies and 3 with non-malignancies
^fCSF Indian ink smear was not documented in 1 patient with hematological non-malignancies
^gCSF culture for Cryptococcus was not documented in 2 patient with hematological malignancies and 4 with non-malignancies
^hCSF CrAg was not documented in 6 patients with hematological non-malignancies
ⁱSerum CrAg titer was not documented in 7 patients with hematological non-malignancies
^jOne patient with hematological non-malignancies was lost for 10-week follow-up

ISSN: 1471-2334