Mucormycosis-A clinicoepidemiological review of cases over 10 years

Abstract

Background: Limited data exist for epidemiology and outcomes of various agents causing mucormycosis in various clinical settings from developing countries like India.

Objectives: To study the epidemiology and outcomes of various agents causing mucormycosis in different clinical settings in a tertiary care hospital from South India.

Patients and methods: We reviewed details of 184 consecutive patients with culture-proven mucormycosis with consistent clinical syndrome and supporting features from September 2005 to September 2015.

Results: The mean age of patients was 50.42 years; 70.97% were male. Unlike developed countries, R microsporus (29/184; 15.7%) and Apophysomyces elegans (20/184; 10.8%) also evolved as important pathogens in addition to R arrhizus in our setting. Paranasal sinuses (136/184; 73.9%) followed by musculoskeletal system (28/184; 15.2%) were the common areas of involvement. Apophysomyces elegans typically produced skin and musculoskeletal disease in immune-competent individuals with trauma (12/20; 60%) and caused significantly lower mortality (P = 0.03). R microsporus was more common in patients with haematological conditions (25% vs 15.7%) and was less frequently a cause for sinusitis than R arrhizus (27.58% vs 10.9%). The overall mortality was 30.97%. Combination therapy with surgery and antifungals offered the best chance for cure.

Conclusions: Agents causing mucormycosis may have unique clinical and epidemiological characteristics.

Keywords: ROCM; epidemiology; haematological conditions; mucormycosis; outcomes.