A novel cause of emergent hyperammonemia: Cryptococcal fungemia and meningitis

William B. Hannah; Gregory Nizialek; Katherine J. Dempsey; Keith B. Armitage; Shawn E. McCandless; Laura L. Konczal

Molecular Genetics and Metabolism Reports (Dec 2021)

A novel cause of emergent hyperammonemia: Cryptococcal fungemia and meningitis

William B. Hannah,
Gregory Nizialek,
Katherine J. Dempsey,
Keith B. Armitage,
Shawn E. McCandless,
Laura L. Konczal

Affiliations

William B. Hannah: Center for Human Genetics, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, 5078 Genetic Medicine Building, 120 Mason Farm Road, Campus Box 7264, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Gregory Nizialek: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA
Katherine J. Dempsey: Center for Human Genetics, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
Keith B. Armitage: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
Shawn E. McCandless: Center for Human Genetics, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
Laura L. Konczal: Center for Human Genetics, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 29
p. 100825

Abstract

Read online

Among etiologies of hyperammonemic emergencies, infection must be considered in certain clinical contexts, particularly among immunocompromised individuals. Although Cryptococcus neoformans is known to be urease-producing, to our knowledge it has not previously been described as a cause of hyperammonemia in patients. We report an immunocompromised man with acute on chronic kidney disease with hyperammonemic crisis due to Cryptococcal meningitis and fungemia. It is important to be aware of C. neoformans as a possible cause of hyperammonemia.

Published in Molecular Genetics and Metabolism Reports

ISSN: 2214-4269 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Medicine (General); Science: Biology (General)
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/molecular-genetics-and-metabolism-reports/

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords