Diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary mucormycosis: A case report

Abstract

Pulmonary mucormycosis, a relatively rare pulmonary fungal disease, is difficult to diagnose and lacks effective treatment. The present study reports the case of a 64-year-old patient who was treated successfully for pulmonary mucormycosis in Xuan Wu Hospital. The patient presented with low-grade fever and a productive cough that persisted for 1 month with no evident cause, and also suffered from diabetes mellitus. Prior antibiotic treatment with levofloxacin had been ineffective. Culture of mucus obtained by bronchoscopy resulted in a diagnosis of pulmonary mucormycosis. The patient received a cumulative dose of 1,355 mg amphotericin B over 2 months and presented a full recovery.

Keywords: diagnosis; pulmonary mucormycosis; treatment.

Figure 1.

Plain computed tomography scan upon admission to the hospital, demonstrating patchy and macular lesions in the patient's bilateral pulmonary lobe, and macular lesions in right lower lobe were observed.

Figure 2.

Plain computed tomography scan performed three weeks after the initiation of treatment. Consolidation was observed in the right lower lobe of the patient. This suggests that the antibiotic treatment was ineffective and further etiological examination was required.

Figure 3.

Photomicrograph of crystal violet-stained fungal colony cultured from mucus collected by bronchoscopy. The analysis demonstrated hyphae and spores typical of the Mucor genus under a Medan phenol staining optical microscope (magnification, ×400).

Figure 4.

Plain computed tomography image obtained 2 weeks after commencing amphotericin B treatment, demonstrating partial resolution of consolidation in the patient's right lower lobe.

Figure 5.

Plain computed tomography image on completion of two months treatment, revealing almost complete resolution of consolidation in the patient's right lower lobe.