Cerebrospinal Fluid Microscopy As An Index For Predicting The Prognosis Of Cryptococcal Meningitis Patients With And Without Hiv

Aim: To evaluate the clinical data and quantitative cerebrospinal fluid for associations with the outcome of cryptococcal meningitis (CM) patients in the hospital. Patients & methods: We retrospectively analyzed a total of 139 CM patients comprising 108 without HIV and 31 with HIV admitted in a Jiang Xi hospital. Results: We found that CM patients with the high fungal burden (>= 10 yeasts/ul) (26.3%) had a worse prognosis than those with the low fungal burden (<10 yeasts/ul). (4.9%) (p = 0.0007 <0.05). Conclusion: In CM patients, a fungal burden of 10 yeasts/ul in the first cerebrospinal fluid test may be used as an indicator of patient prognosis, and we can personalize patients' treatment based on the fungal burden to improve prognosis.