1. A fungal infection characterized by nodular lesions, first in the lungs and then spreading to the nervous system.
2. An acute, subacute, or chronic infection by the fungal organism, Cryptococcus neoformans.

Infection generally causes a pulmonary (lung) infection but it may also spread to the meninges.

The pulmonary form is generally mild and transient (often unrecognized).

With dissemination, lesions may occur in the skeletal, cutaneus, and visceral tissues. The most commonly recognized dissemination is to the central nervous system (meningitis).