Primary cutaneous mucormycosis caused by Mucor irregularis in an elderly person

Abstract

Primary cutaneous mucormycosis is a rare but often lethal severe fungal infection, which usually occurs in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of primary cutaneous mucormycosis caused by Mucor irregularis in an elderly patient. Seven months after the surgical dissection of the involved skin, cutaneous mucormycosis recurred at the peripheral edge of the skin graft. Shortly subsequent to the administration of liposomal amphotericin B, the remaining skin lesion was excised again. M. irregularis is rarely but increasingly reported as a cause of mucormycosis in immunocompetent individuals, especially in Asian farmers. M. irregularis may be largely disseminated in the soils of Asia and thus the trivial trauma at the time of farm work may be a trigger for the onset. These cases tend to leave severe cosmetic damage even in healthy individuals, although the vital prognosis is not affected.

Keywords: Mucor irregularis; primary cutaneous mucormycosis; zygomycetes.