COVID-19 triggering mucormycosis in a susceptible patient: a new phenomenon in the developing world?

Link to article at PubMed

BMJ Case Rep. 2021 Apr 27;14(4):e241663. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2021-241663.

ABSTRACT

A middle-aged woman with diabetes presented with left-sided facial pain, complete ptosis and fever of short duration. On presentation, she had hyperglycaemia without ketosis. There was total ophthalmoplegia of the left eye with a visual acuity of 6/36. She incidentally tested positive for COVID-19. CT paranasal sinus and MRI brain revealed left-sided pansinusitis with acute infarct in the left parieto-occipital region without angioinvasion. An emergency functional endoscopic sinus procedure was done, which confirmed mucormycosis on histopathological examination. After 1 week of conventional amphotericin B and antibiotics, repeat CT brain showed improvement in mucosal thickening and sinusitis. This case is a rare presentation of mucormycosis associated with rapid progression to orbital apex syndrome with brain infarction in a patient with non-ketotic diabetes and COVID-19. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to prevent further end-organ damage. It is also interesting that there was no angioinvasion and transient periarterial inflammation was attributed to brain infarction.

PMID:33906877 | DOI:10.1136/bcr-2021-241663

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *