[Mucormycosis in paranasal sinuses]

Three patients with mucormycosis of the paranasal sinuses were treated in the University ENT departments in Bochum and Essen in recent years. All patients were immunocompromised for different reasons and had reduced resistance against microorganism infection. They presented with symptoms of orbital complications of sinusitis. The further progress of these life-threatening fungal infections with a mortality rate between 35 and 70% depends on early and definitive diagnosis and radical surgical therapy to reduce the amount of infectious agent. The difficulties of early diagnosis by imaging, histology, microbiology, or molecular biology and postoperative therapeutic options especially with amphotericin B, liposomal amphotericin B, and posaconazole are illustrated and discussed.