Cutaneous cryptococcosis mimicking molluscum contagiosum in a haemophiliac with AIDS

Abstract

A 16-year-old boy with haemophilia and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) developed disseminated cryptococcosis and facial skin papules, some of them umbilicated, that showed numerous encapsulated budding yeast organisms suggestive of Cryptococcus neoformans on cutaneous cytology. Histologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of cutaneous cryptococcosis. To our knowledge, this case is the first cutaneous cryptococcosis in a haemophiliac with AIDS reported in Europe, and the second one resembling molluscum contagiosum.