Baseline fluconazole heteroresistance and risk of relapse within six months among patients with neurocryptococcosis in the Brazilian Amazon.
Heteroresistance to fluconazole was common among Cryptococcus isolates but not significantly linked to relapse within six months in neurocryptococcosis patients.
- Why it matters: Understanding factors that predict relapse can improve treatment strategies for cryptococcosis, yet the role of heteroresistance remains unclear.
- What they did: The study analyzed 70 cerebrospinal-fluid isolates from patients in Brazil, assessing heteroresistance via broth microdilution and HFL testing, with 61.4% showing heteroresistance.
- The result: Although relapse was more frequent in patients with heteroresistant isolates (28.6% vs. 14.8%), this difference was not statistically significant, indicating heteroresistance alone may not predict relapse risk.