A paradoxical decline: Intracranial lesions in two HIV-positive patients recovering from cryptococcal meningitis

Abstract

Cryptococcal immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (C-IRIS) is an increasingly important manifestation among patients with HIV/AIDS, especially as the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is expanding worldwide. Cryptococcus and associated C-IRIS are common causes of meningitis. While intracranial lesions are common in HIV/AIDS, they are rarely due to cryptococcosis or C-IRIS. We describe two cases of paradoxical C-IRIS associated with the development of intracranial cryptococcomas in HIV/AIDS. Both patients had an initial episode of cryptococcal meningitis treated with antifungal therapy. At the time, they had initiated or modified ART with subsequent evidence of immune reconstitution. Two months later, they developed aseptic meningitis with intracranial lesions. After exhaustive work ups, both patients were diagnosed with paradoxical C-IRIS and biopsy confirmed intracranial cryptococcomas. We review the important clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic features of cryptococcomas associated with C-IRIS in HIV/AIDS.