Systemic Infection Due to Torula Histolytica (Cryptococcus Hominis)

SYSTEMIC infection by Torula histolytica was first clearly recognized by Stoddard and Cutler in 1916.1In their exhaustive monograph they reported 2 cases in man and established the criteria for differentiation of Torula histolytica (a term which they introduced) from Blastomycosis hominis and Coccidioides immitis, with which it previously had been confused. The chief means of distinguishing these organisms is by their manner of growth on artificial media; Torula organisms reproduce by budding only; Blastomyces organisms form arthrospores, and Coccidioides organisms form endospores. In clinical practice Torula organisms have been overlooked because of the failure to culture them on suitable media or for sufficiently long periods of time. They have also been mistaken for white blood cells in examination of the spinal fluid. The problem of their identification has been reviewed recently by Holt.2 In 1937, Levin3reviewed the literature up to that time, summarizing the clinical