Objective To invesitgate the clinical characteristics, radiology, diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary cryptococcosis ( PC) . Methods The patients with PC diagnosed form January 2000 to January 2009 from three hospitals of Shanghai and Nanjing were retrospectively analyzed. Results A total of 34 patients were diagnosed, with 24 males and 10 females, and an average age of ( 40. 6 ±13. 5) years old ( ranged from 3 to 72 years) . Twelve patients had underlying diseases and 28 patients had symptoms. The main symptoms were pyrexia ( 20 cases) , cough and expectoration ( 22 cases) , chest pain ( 8 cases) , chest tightness ( 5 cases) , and hemoptysis ( 4 cases) . Seven cases were diagnosed as systemic pulmonary cryptococcosis, in which 3 cases were complicated with cryptococcal meningitis ( CM) , and 3 cases with CM and cryptococcal septicemia, and 1 cases with third dorsal vertebra Busse-Buschke disease. Radiologic manifestations showed multiformand nonspecific lesion such as nodus or nodules in 17 cases, pneumonia in 10 cases, mixed appearance in 6 cases, and diffused military nodes in 1 case. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathological study in 27 cases, including 12 cases by thoracotomy, 10 cases by percutaneous lung biopsy, 1 cases by thoracic vertebra biopsy, and 4 cases by bronchoscope. Ten cases were confirmed with culture positive or smear positive. Six cases were treated by surgery alone, 21 cases by antimycotic drug therapy alone, and 6 cases by drug therapy after surgery. One case quitted after the diagnosis. The duration of treatment varied from 2 weeks to 2 years. One case died in the hospital, 25 cases recovered after discharge, and 8 cases were lost to follow-up. Conclusions PC is likely to be misdiagnosed due to atypical clinical and image manifestations. The diagnosis is always comfirmed on the pathological and microbiological study.