Ultrastructural observation of pulmonary cryptococcosis

Objective To study the ultrastructural characteristics of pulmonary cryptococcosis(PC).Methods Tissues obtained from 17 patients with PC were observed by light microscope and electron microscope.Results Microscopically,the cryptococcosis granuloma formation was observed.Vacuolar cryptococcus spore could be seen in plasma of multinuclear giant cell,macrophage and mesenchyma,which stained in red color with PAS and mucicarmine.Electron microscopy revealed that most of cryptococcus neoformans(CN) had a simple structure with a few organelles.The capsule was seen in all organisms.Gemmation of CN could be observed.Conclusion PC is an infrequent fungal disease in lung.The clinical manifestation and imaging of PC are nonspecific.It can be differentiated from other diseases based on histopathological features and ultrastrual observation.