Cryptococcal meningitis in a multiple sclerosis patient treated with Fingolimod: a case report and review of imaging findings

Abstract

Fingolimod is an oral medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Initial clinical trials did not show a significantly increased rate of serious infections with fingolimod therapy. However, a mildly increased risk of less serious infections, such as varicella zoster virus and herpes simplex virus, was reported. Recently, however, several instances of serious opportunistic infections have been reported. In the years following approval of fingolimod for use in multiple sclerosis (MS), seven cases of cryptococcal meningitis in patients undergoing treatment have been described in the literature. We present a 40-year old woman with RRMS on fingolimod therapy presenting with a rare case of cryptococcal meningitis exhibiting alterations of consciousness, which was initially diagnosed as an MS relapse.

Keywords: Cryptococcus; Fingolimod; Gilenya; Meningitis; Multiple sclerosis.