{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T06:10:14Z","timestamp":1771827014884,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771804800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004735","name":"Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2020SK50504"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020SK50504"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004735","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Cryptococcus neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n                    typically causes pulmonary or central nervous system (CNS) infections, but mediastinal mass as its primary manifestation is rare\u2014especially in immunocompetent children with pet parrot exposure. This study reports a 7-year-old girl who presented with recurrent fever and a mediastinal mass secondary to\n                    <jats:italic>Cryptococcus neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n                    infection, with a 5-month history of daily contact with parrot feces. Conventional diagnostic tests (e.g., fungal culture, serology) were negative, and the diagnosis was confirmed by targeted metagenomic next-generation sequencing (tNGS) of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). The patient received a three-phase antifungal regimen: induction with amphotericin B\u202f+\u202fflucytosine, consolidation with fluconazole, and maintenance with low-dose fluconazole. After one year of treatment, the mediastinal mass nearly resolved, and no recurrence was observed. A literature review, supplemented with specific cases of parrot-associated\n                    <jats:italic>Cryptococcus neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n                    infection, highlights that parrot exposure is an underrecognized risk factor for pediatric cryptococcosis, and tNGS significantly improves diagnostic efficiency for atypical extrapulmonary manifestations. This case emphasizes the importance of inquiring about pet bird exposure in children with unexplained mediastinal masses and fever, and supports the use of tNGS for early, non-invasive diagnosis.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1771746","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T05:27:36Z","timestamp":1771824456000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Cryptococcus neoformans infection presenting as a mediastinal mass in an immunocompetent child with parrot exposure: a case report and literature review"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Guangxian","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Children's Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine (Hunan Children's Hospital), Central South University","place":["Changsha, Hunan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Siping","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Children's Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine (Hunan Children's Hospital), Central South University","place":["Changsha, Hunan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jinghua","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Children's Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine (Hunan Children's Hospital), Central South University","place":["Changsha, Hunan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sijing","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, The Affiliated Children's Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine (Hunan Children's Hospital), Central South University","place":["Changsha, Hunan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuju","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Genetics, The Affiliated Children's Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine (Hunan Children's Hospital), Central South University","place":["Changsha, Hunan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wenwen","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University","place":["Changsha, Hunan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1186","DOI":"10.1148\/rg.2021200180","article-title":"Mediastinal masses in children: radiologic-pathologic 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