Cryptococcal pneumonia

This chest x-ray, of an HIV-infected individual, shows patchy shadowing at the right base with a suggestion of an air bronchogram. This appearance is consistent with partial lobar consolidation. It could be one of many bacterial pneumonias or tuberculosis, which is not unusual in an individual also infected with HIV. Cryptococcus neoformans was grown in this case. Although C. neoformans is more typically associated with meningitis, disease of the lung parenchyma is not rare. The organism was subsequently found in the cerebrospinal fluid of this patient.