Search

Objective: Mucormycosis is an opportunist, often lethal fungal infection which occurs in immunocompromised patients. We present our experience in 14 patients with this condition., Patients and Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for 14 patients treated for rhinocerebral mucormycosis., Results: Nine patients had diabetes mellitus and six had a haematological malignancy. Nine patients had cutaneous and/or palatal necrosis. Eleven patients were treated with amphotericin B and five with liposomal amphotericin B. Endoscopic sinus surgery was performed in five patients with disease limited to the sinonasal cavity; nine patients underwent more extensive surgery. Five patients with disease limited to the sinonasal cavity survived, while nine patients with widely disseminated disease died. Five of the nine diabetic patients died, as did five of the six patients with haematological malignancy., Conclusion: Patients with rhinocerebral mucormycosis spreading outside the sinonasal cavity have a poor prognosis.

Cranial bone defects in 27 patients were repaired with bone flaps preserved under the scalp. Head trauma (thirteen patients), cerebrovascular disorder (five patients), postoperative brain swelling (seven patients), and cerebral infective disease (two patients) accounted for the cranial defects. The bone flaps are reimplanted after 14-98 days. The follow-up period was 6 to 26 months. We have encountered no complications related to this technique in 27 consecutive cases.