Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common cause of opportunistic
meningitis in
HIV -infected
patients in
Brazil and causes unacceptable high
mortality rates. In this study,
HIV -infected
patients with a first episode of
culture -proven
cryptococcal meningitis in
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were prospectively included in order to evaluate
sensitivity of cryptococcal
antigen (CrAg) lateral flow assay (LFA) in
serum , CSF, whole
blood (fingerstick), and fresh
urine . In addition,
HIV -infected
patients with other neurological confirmed
diseases were included in order to evaluate the
specificity of CrAg LFA in
serum . Twenty
patients with
cryptococcal meningitis were included and in 19 of them, CrAg LFA in CSF,
serum , and whole
blood were positive (95%
sensitivity ). In 18
patients ,
India ink test was positive in CSF (90%
sensitivity ), and in 16 cases, CrAg LFA was positive in
urine (80%
sensitivity ). Thirty-six
HIV -infected
patients with other neurological
diseases had
negative results of CrAg LFA in
serum (100%
specificity ). In conclusion, CrAg LFA in
serum , CSF, and whole
blood showed high
sensitivity and specificity . Whole
blood CrAg LFA seems to be a good and reliable strategy to improve
AIDS -related
cryptococcal meningitis diagnosis in
Brazil